Among the Deads
by lhughes
Summary: The story happens in a future scenario. In a world totally ruled by vampires, a girl called Danielle loses her family and finds herself surrounded by danger and loneliness. That's when she is captured by Godric. I do not own True Blood characters.
1. The end of all I've known

**This is story is already complete. I've written 22 chapters and I intend to publish them one by one, depending on the reviews and stuff. I'll start to write a second story soon, and it will be a sequel. I do want to know your opinions about it, and maybe if I get a nice suggestion I may adapt the story a little. I hope you like it. I'll be waiting for your reviews :)**

Chapter 1

The end of all I've known

_"Close your eyes_

_ Wait for the bright morning light_

_ It soon will come, hey_

_ It will keep Death away_

_ It will keep you alive"_

"Good night, my darling."

"Good night, mom."

My mother has been singing these words to me before going to sleep since I can remember. Actually, I grew up after dark creatures had conquered the world. The dark creatures that we, humans, usually call as the _Deads_, are also known as vampires. Thirty five years have passed since they won the war against us humans. The war itself lasted almost ten years. During the war, a terrible disease spread among our kind and still contaminates us sometimes. The infected ones lose control of their bodies and become agressive, they die quickly, but not before killing and infecting villages or other groups of people.

I was not even born when all those bad things started to happen, but my mother taught me the world used to be a much better place. She used to work as a doctor during the war and says her mother even used to have three meals every day. It is something quite impossible nowadays. She also had a beautiful home and she always talks about her family nostalgically. I wish I could have lived the way they did.

It is only me, my mother Claire and my older brother Bernard these days. My father died two years ago during a bloody battle against the Deads. My brother tried to save him, but he was too late. We live in a small village in an area that in the past was called Canada. We stay in the East Coast and sometimes, well, most of the times, the weather can be really cold. It is pretty hard to get food. We plant, but we are moving all the time and we can hardly harvest properly. My brother and I were taught how to hunt since a very young age. We always hunt together, despite the fact that we can't stand each other. I'm small and quick, so I climb trees and spot the animals. I'm not very good at the bow and arrow thing, so when I fail, my brother is always waiting for the prey on the ground. He kills it with his knife, but not before being pissed at me. That's how it's always been. That's how we survive.

My mother tells me the world used to have big, enormous cities. With millions of people in it. Today that is something really hard to believe. I only believe it because one day I saw pictures of a city once called "New York". There were many cars, and huge buildings that today would be just useless to us. I can't get close to these former big cities, because they are usually full of Deads and sometimes a few infected people. Everything must have changed very fast after the war and the plague. Now I can only picture small villages with few people living together. We can't survive if there are many of us. Actually, we can't survive if there are few of us either. But it is our best chance, it's easier to hide when night falls.

Some villages survive after agreements with the Deads. Usually these kinds of groups sacrifices some of their young people, offering them to the Deads. I learned the other day that sometimes it's not such a sacrifice, because some of them actually dream of living among the Deads. It just doesn't make sense to me. If you have a deal with them, you can give them your blood – they will accept it easier if you are healthy, or you can work in one of their fabrics. If you work in a fabric you are basically a slave. If a Dead gets interested in your blood, though, your life can be a little easier. The plague also affected them, since a lot of humans died and they need us alive to survive.

Our village has anything to do with the Deads. We have to hide when night falls, because that is when they walk around. If they find us, they kill us. But before they do it, they torture us, rape us, drain us... I've seen it before, and it is something I can't erase from my memories. It stays with me everytime I lie down to sleep. Everyone who decided to run from them now hides in these tiny villages like mine. I say that, because some of us don't run and live among them. They exchange their blood, their bodies, their services, everything for the right to stay alive, which I think it's kind of miserable.

...

I got up that morning feeling great. My mother was outside talking to Anne's mother. Anne was my best friend. She was my age and we knew each other since we were born. That morning she called me and we left.

"So, are you hunting with Bernard today?" She asked vaguely.

"I think so. He wanted to do it later, though." I replied. "He has been risking our lives too much doing that lately."

"I can talk to him if you want." Anne hated the way my brother treated me.

"It's ok, Anne." I hated the way he treated me as well, but I didn't want to put her in that position at all.

She looked at me with a vague smile and I just knew she was going to start with her deep reflections. She asked then "Don't you think that maybe it would be better if we offered ourselves to a Dead? I mean-" I scowled and it just cut her. She looked back at me, and through her eyes I could see she was asking me permission to finish her sentence, so I nodded annoyed. "I mean, they would give us food, water, hot shower and much more... It can't be that bad. All they will ask us is our blood."

"I don't think it works just like that." I replied harshly. What was she thinking? These humans that live with the Deads sometimes came to our villages and infiltrate as new residents. After a couple of days, they'd disappear at night and contact a Dead. In a instant, everything that the real residents built was gone and everybody was just brutally killed. Some of the humans, generally the strongest young men and the beautiful young women were caught so that they could be sold or exchanged somehow, the rest of the survivors could be taken to work in the fabrics. I'd say, then, that some people offered themselves willingly, because they wanted to live no matter how. Others had no choice, because they were sold and they became some kind of slave. I didn't know how it works for sure, but it was way worse than just offering our blood.

She continued to speak her mind "Perhaps we are just narrow-minded. We grew up hearing stories about them and how they are violent, perhaps they're not so bad." I looked at her worried and she quickly concluded "Well, take it easy, I'm not going anywhere, Nielle." All I could do was to walk away and leave her there with her crazy ideas. I did grow up learning that the Deads are just terrifying creatures. I've only seen they attacking once, and Bernard had to save me, because I couldn't move at all. I was just petrified. I'd never felt so much fear before. Maybe because I was just 10 years old, but still, it is something I'll just never forget. We were both hunting in the woods and we got lost. We were not able to go back to the village early enough and the sun went down. Bernard used to be my hero. He was 15 and he destroyed a Dead on his own. He definitely saved our lives that night. It's a shame that later, I never fully understood his reasons, he couldn't stand looking at me, speaking to me anymore. He always had this harsh tone that hurts me very much. I had never had the guts to ask him why he kept treating me like trash.

I left Anne there and spent the day helping my mother. In the afternoon, Bernard called me and we headed to the woods to hunt. I couldn't help thinking that living this days takes courage. Young people like me and my brother were just born in hell. We were used to it, but even for me, well, sometimes I just wondered why we all insist on running, on surviving, if we could just kill ourselves. People would call me a pessimist, but I didn't think they do believe things could change at all. The Deads ruled the world. We didn't want to adapt to this reality and it was just a matter of time, we were all going to be captured and murdered. Not to mention the risk of getting infected by the plague that kept on spreading every day.

I was anxious while hunting. My brother was angry as usual because I was missing all the preys.

"What the fuck is _wrong_ with you?" He asked mad at me.

"I don't know, okay? I don't feel good." I said looking away, I felt worse after his rude question.

"You'd better feel good. Otherwise we will have nothing for dinner." He threatened, and I knew he was right. It was just the way he spoke to me, I could not stand it.

Night was already falling. I've been standing at the top of a tree the whole time, I decided to get to his level and finally face him. That was what I did. A bit nervous, I finally asked "Why do you treat me like trash, Bernard?" I was afraid of his answer and I felt my hands were shaking.

"Because you are fucking _useless_. Every time I have to take you wherever I go, I am risking my life. Because of you." He said those hurtful words so coldly. How could he say such thing to his own sister? I'd always tried to help him out. I'd always done my best.

"But I-" I looked to the ground, searching for something to help me face Bernard. It was something stupid to do, I know. But there was nothing to say, I finally thought. "I'm sorry." I said. Although I was not sorry, it was all I could say. Then, I ran without looking back at him. It was dark already, but I did not care.

And that night, everything I've always feared just happened. I got back to the village and realized fate had just met us.


	2. Left behind

**Thank you very much for the reviews. I hope you enjoy this next chapter :)**

Chapter 2

Left behind

I ran thinking about what my brother had said to me. I was useless. I was going to meet my mother and tell her I had not found anything. No dinner tonight. But before actually arriving at the village, I smelt smoke, and saw the fire. I could see the flames from a distance. And I felt fear coming from its direction.

I've always had this strange ability that my father used to say it was our gift (he had it too). We were able to feel exactly what other people were feeling. The stronger it was, the easier we could get it. If I just concentrated properly or touched somebody's skin, I would simply feel the person and even have visions of her memories, usually the most important ones. That was something I'd managed to hide my whole life from the other residents. Only my parents knew about it, Bernard had never suspected anything. My father had always been afraid that if people found out about it I would become valuable and someone would try to sell me.

"_Run, Danielle! Now!_" My brother ordered me and headed to our home. That was when I realized he was running right behind me. I would not let him go alone. I could not be alone. It was not safe at all. For any of us. I ignored his order and followed him.

We finally got to our place and quickly we realized mom was now just a lifeless body lying on the floor. That vision I would never forget.

"No..." I whispered incredulous. That was just unbelievable. I mean, I've always expected the worst to happen, but we never know when it's actually coming. I should have known, I should have been prepared, but I was not.

"Go_, _Danielle_, please!_" Bernard had tears in his big blue eyes and I could see it was not an order anymore. He was just begging me to escape.

"I can't go anywhere without you!" I had so much adrenaline running inside me that I could not cry. Despite having so many reasons to do it, I just couldn't. I could not be angry at him either, even after everything. I felt like we had to work as a team from now on. He was all I had left.

Before we could say anything else, five residents came through the door screaming words I didn't understand. After a moment feeling slightly disturbed, I heard Alfred, one of them, saying "We have to leave now! They are still somewhere outside!". Then another man warned "I think some people are infected!" So, we were forced to run away from our home, and leave our mother there.

The residents, my brother and I were escaping walking as fast as we could through the deep forest. We were weak, and I noticed one of the men was bleeding. I looked at my brother and I could see he was thinking the same thing I was. It was really just a matter of time. The Deads would come and kill us all. They could easily smell the blood.

Bernard then stepped closer to me and whispered "Climb that tree. I'm going to hide somewhere else. We meet again in the morning."

I didn't think twice and just did it. I climbed the highest I could, and my brother ran away from the rest of the group without making a sound. We were good at hiding, we knew the forest like the back of our hands. When I looked down to the ground, I saw the men looking for us, but I was not able to see my brother anymore. It hurt so much to be apart from him, especially after losing mom. I hoped we would really meet again very soon. Maybe he could change his mind about me, now that it was only us. Mom was dead, and I wondered if Anne had been either taken or murdered too.

After just a couple of minutes, I heard the men screaming not far from where I was. They were finally caught. I closed my eyes, buried my head between my knees and didn't make a sound. I even avoided breathing this time. The desperate screams ceased very soon. Eyes closed, I felt the branches of the tree slightly moving, and I could also hear the leaves falling. Was it Bernard climbing to get me? Was it a Dead? I didn't want to open my eyes to figure it out. If it really were a Dead, I would just die with my eyes closed.

As I felt something touching my dark and dirty hair, I shut my eyes even more, afraid of what was going to happen next. Then, cold fingers gently caressed my head.

"Look at me, young girl." A smooth voice demanded.

I didn't recognize the voice, so I guessed it was a Dead. Only a Dead could climb that fast. I was not just going to do whatever he wanted me to, though. So I answered in a very low tone "If you are going to kill me, then just do it. I don't want to see you." He was still touching my head when he replied "Do you want me to end your life at this very moment?"

Really? What kind of question was that? I felt like looking at him, but my fear was stronger than my curiosity. Dying seemed like a reasonable way out, but I was not quite ready. I was also very nervous, because I had never spoken to a Dead before. "No." I whispered right before the first warm tears finally fell from my eyes.

"I will not do it, then." He gently moved my arms. "Now, look at me, young girl."

Still terrified, I slowly opened my tearful eyes and I saw something really unexpected. It was a Dead - I did expect that - but he was very young, or seemed to be. He seemed to be younger than my brother. And he was handsome. His skin was very pale, he had brown hair and I could not tell if his eyes were green or blue. He was wearing a white shirt, but it was easy to see through it. His chest and arms had some weird tattoos and he was covered in blood. There was also blood on his chin. I knew why. Despite the blood all over him, he had an innocent appearance. As I analyzed him, he kept staring at me patiently. I did not have anything to say. I was confused. Why hadn't he killed me yet?

After a long time staring at each other, I finally took courage and shyly asked "Did you kill those residents?" I regretted before I could even finish the obvious question. I even felt my voice fading. It was weird, because at the same time he had an innocent young boy's face, he was quite intimidating.

"Yes." He informed me coldly.

"Why haven't you killed me yet?" My voice was trembling. I was so afraid. I could only think about Bernard. I wondered if he were safe.

"I will never kill you" he said and just left as quickly as he came. It relieved me. I got to the ground and immediately started to look for my brother. I had to find him before that Dead did. It was still dark and I was so hungry, so scared. I could barely walk. After walking for almost an hour, I found a small cave and got in there. I did not care about what would be waiting for me inside. I just needed a place to rest. Luckily, it was empty, so I laid in there and fell asleep.

...

I spent the next day looking for Bernard. I couldn't find him anywhere. As the hours passed, the despair was making me lose my mind. I called for him several times. I was starving, I was thirsty. I felt weak and useless. I used all the energy I had left to climb a tree. I slept up there for hours. I only knew it, because when I opened my eyes it was already dark again. I felt someone lurking in the shadows and shivered.

"Come here!" A voice screamed from the ground. "Give me your food, or I will shoot."

It was a man in his forties. He was pointing a gun at me. I was freezing, and also an easy target at the top of the tree. He could easily shoot me and there was nothing I could do. "Come on, just throw it to me.", he insisted.

"I have nothing." I tried. It was true, but he would never believe me. He laughed and fired once, without really aiming at me. "Next time I'll aim for your head!" The noise scared me and I slowly came down from the tree. I had nothing, maybe he would just see it and leave me alone. That was what I thought, but not what really happened.

"Damn, you are cute!" He smirked. "Come on, where is your food?"

"I said I have nothing." My arms were crossed. The freezing wind was killing me. I could barely move.

"I see..." he walked in my direction still pointing the gun at me. I thought he was convinced, since I was not even carrying a bag. "I will be taking something else from you, then." He smirked once more and tried to touch my shoulder.

I completely forgot how cold I was after his disgusting threat. I took a short step backwards, and before he could do anything I took the gun from his hand. He was not expecting that from me, but quickly tried to get it back. I stupidly threw it as far as I could. He stood right in front of me, it was me against him now.

"There is nowhere to run, bitch" He tried to reach me and I stepped back. This time I could feel he was really angry.

"Who said I am going to run?" If I had any chance trying to escape, I would definitely do it, but my only option was knocking him out. My father had taught me some martial arts techniques, but I had never used them on anyone before. I didn't have to much time to reflect about it, though. The first punch almost hit me. I dodged in a perfect timing and kicked him in the stomach. He got breathless, but ran in my direction almost immediately trying to punch me once again. I dodged again and tried to punch him back, but he grabbed my arm and threw me on the ground. I crawled as he came in my direction for the third time.

That was when I realized that I had a knife hidden in my boot, a knife I had almost forgotten about. Right before he jumped on me, I took it and stabbed him in the chest. Soon his blood was all over me. He died very quickly, I rolled his body and climbed the tree again. I was covered in blood and it was still dark. _Damn_, I thought. I could be easily found by the Deads. I was too weak to find some place to hide or do anything else anyway.

When most of the adrenaline left my body, I started to freeze again. Worse, now I was in pain, due to the rough fight. I realized how suddenly my life had become even more difficult. I had lost my family and I was now wandering in the forest with no perspective. I wondered if it was worth to keep fighting after all.


	3. Prisioner

Chapter 3

Prisioner

I killed a man. I did kill him. He was probably going to rape me and kill me if I had not stopped him, but I could not help feeling bad about it. It was a cold night. At the top of that tree, all I had was an old sweater to warm me up. I was shaking. The smell of that man's blood was making me sick. I started to think that maybe I should have let that Dead kill me the other night.

_Close your eyes_

_ Wait for the bright morning light_

_ It soon will come, hey_

_ It will keep Death away_

_ It will keep you alive_

I started to sing it to myself and it made me remember my mother's stories. I wish I had lived those days before the war. I wish I had been able to visit a big city. I would have been able to drive a car, to take pictures, to eat pizza and do so many other things... It was so bad to think I was going to die alone. As much as I tried to believe my brother was still alive somewhere, I knew he was probably dead by now. He died alone. Now it was my turn.

I sang the lullaby once again. I sadly laughed alone thinking about the fact that the morning light was not enough to keep me alive. I needed food and water so badly. I needed a warm firepit. I needed my loved ones next to me. I needed so many things. I was not going to make it. I was going to die before the morning light come.

That's when I heard it. Again. Someone was climbing the tree. It was him, the Dead. I just knew it. I opened my eyes and saw him right in front of me, just like the first time. He was handsome, indeed. This time he was clean and also wearing a gray shirt with long sleeves and a pair of pants matching the color of the shirt. He was there because he knew I was not going to survive on my own. That's why he had let me live. He was probably playing some kind of sick game with me, I guessed. I decided I wouldn't play it any longer.

"I changed my mind." I was so weak that it was hard to speak. "You can end my life now." I whispered. My mouth was freezing and I almost couldn't feel my lips.

I noticed that he smiled playfully. How could he be so cruel? And then he surprised me once again. "I said I will never kill you. I'm taking you somewhere safe tonight." his voice was so smooth. If he weren't a Dead, I'd even say he was worried about me. As I heard his words, I cried a little. I knew it was a lie. He was going to take me so that he could sell me. I would have to spend the rest of my life serving the Deads.

He quickly took off my bloody sweater, leaving me with a T-shirt only. "Vampires can smell this blood from miles away." he said almost scolding me. I thought the freezing wind would kill me, it was so damn cold. "This blood is not mine." I stated desperately trying to get it back from his hand. "I know," he said throwing the piece of cloth far away. "I watched you fight." I closed my eyes, giving up. I could not speak anymore. The pale Dead took me in his arms and then I felt like I was flying. I was probably hallucinating.

...

I finished eating a wonderful meal, right after taking a long and revigorating hot shower. The bread tasted so delicious, and there was something I had never tried out before. The human who served me told me it was called cheese. I really liked it. She was surprised I did not know it, though. In fact, I grew up eating only whatever I was able to hunt, and some times some bread. Only the humans who lived among Deads could get lots of food easily. I had also put on some comfortable and clean clothes that smelt so good. I was definitely feeling better, although I could not stop thinking about Bernard. I had to see his body, otherwise I would keep hoping that he was still alive.

"He is waiting for you in his room." The human said referring to the Dead that had brought me in there and that scared me quite a lot. What did he want from me? Why was he even taking care of me like that?

I slowly opened the door and entered his room. He was sitting on the biggest bed I had ever seen in my whole life. I could not close my mouth once I saw it. It looked so soft, and there were many pillows on it. It seemed to come right from my mother's stories. The Dead smiled at my amazed look and said patiently "Please, you can sit next to me." I immediately stepped backwards, afraid of him. Maybe I should not have let him see the fear in my eyes, but that was something I could not really disguise anymore. It was just obvious, so he completed "You don't need to do it if you don't want to."

I just glared at him from where I was. He was so polite, that's not how the Deads were supposed to be. He might had been tricking me, so I thought. It could be just part of the game. He was deeply staring at me, like he was trying to read my mind. I was glad he could not do such thing. After a long and uncomfortable time, he finally asked "What is your name?"

"Danielle." It came out almost as a whisper. I was shy. I did not feel like having a conversation with a Dead.

"It is a very beautiful name, Danielle." He replied being polite again.

After another moment of silence, the Dead asked "Do you not want to know my name?"

What should I answer? I asked myself. Should I have asked him his name? Because to me, it did not matter, Deads were all just evil creatures. I just looked at him confused, he didn't seem to be angry at all. I slightly blushed, it was awkward. I was obviously afraid of him, and then he just smiled again. "Call me Godric."

I nodded and he just wouldn't stop staring at me. It was as if he wanted to see through my soul. I looked around embarrased, worried, afraid. If only I could go back in time and fix everything, I wouldn't be in that situation. After a long time he asked me another question "What is worrying you so much, Danielle?"

What? Maybe the fact that I am in front of a Dead? What the hell was wrong with him anyway? "Lots of things." This time I actually just whispered and looked down at my feet as he demanded "Tell me." I couldn't tell what he was feeling. I've always learned Deads had no feelings other than hate and anger. This one, Godric, had an emotionless look most of the time, except when he smiled. Strangely, I was not able to get his feelings like I usually did with people, maybe because he was not human, but I still wasn't sure about it.

"My father was murdered two years ago." I did not know exactly where to start. "I lost my mother the other night." I sighed trying to keep calm, it was like my heart was speaking for me, and I couldn't think straight "And my brother... Actually, I don't know if he is still alive anymore." I held the crying and my voice, that was already low, started to tremble "I killed a man tonight." Then I sighed once again "And now there is you" I wasn't sure if it were a good idea to tell him this last part, but at least I was being honest. "I don't know what you want from me. I'm very afr-" I could not finish the sentence. I covered my face with my hands and started to cry. I cried a lot. I cried about everything, about all my miserable life and about the last events. My father, and now my mother, Bernard... The Deads had just taken everything from me. I had nothing left.

Godric walked towards me, but I did not notice it. I still had my hands covering my face. We were standing very close to each other when he stated "You are a brave young girl." When I heard his smooth voice so close to me, I immediately stepped backwards, almost tripped and looked at him. He placed his hand on my shoulder and said "I am sorry for your loss."

That was enough. I could not take his words any longer. I really had nothing to lose anymore, so I replied sharply, my voice was still low though "Sorry for my loss?" I felt my hands shaking in anger "As far as I know you killed all those residents that night. I would even say you killed my mother too." My eyes met his and he had that same emotionless look, so I continued "Maybe you did it, but you can't even remember. Our lives are so insignificant to you after all."

When I was finished. He gently touched my face and wiped my tears. "I did not murder your mother." he said slowly. "That night, I only killed the group of residents that you and your brother were walking with." he still had his hand on my face, he had wiped my tears and now was caressing my cheek a bit distracted. "I did that, because they were planning on exchanging you for their lives. They were going to sell you and kill your brother." His eyes finally met mine.

I got surprised. That was hard to believe. But there were still many questions on my mind "Why do you care anyway?" I could notice Godric was now too distracted looking at me. When I asked him the last question, his expression changed. He stopped caressing me and stared at me for a while. "I-" he started, and somehow looked embarrassed. "I have been watching you for the last two years. Since Arthur's death."

Arthur was my father. My eyes were now wide open. He knew his name, so it was probably all true. How could he just keep surprising me all the time? "My father?" I asked vaguely but I already knew the answer.

The Dead just nodded. "We fought together in that battle where he died." he did not stop staring at me for a second.

"Together?" That was just unbelievable.

He stilly nodded again. "He had saved my progeny's life, but unfortunately I could not save him as well." I could notice a slightly sad look on his pale face. "He was a warrior, a very good one. After what he did for my child, I said he could ask me anything and I would just do it for him."

"What did he ask you?" That was just the first of the million questions I wanted to ask Godric.

"Arthur asked me to keep an eye on you. To keep you safe." He was goot at hiding his emotions from me. I was generally very observant, but I just could not tell what he was feeling. That was so annoying. My ability was not working on him at all.

"So you kept me safe, but let my brother die. Why? He was everything to me!" I cried a little once again.

Godric again patiently wiped my tears. This time I rested my head on his hand, I did not know why exactly I was doing it. "I have no interest in keeping your brother alive." He held my hand and led me to his bed, I was exhausted so I finally sat on it. "I can't treat humans well. The ones who are against the present situation are punished and destroyed. Destroyed, I would be useless. I don't want to be useless. Do you understand? I still have things I need to do." I listened to him attentively and nodded. He made sense, but was he resisting? Was he defending humans? I couldn't tell.

The Dead was again distracted, this time combing my hair with his finger. I was blushing. He was being so caring towards me. It was hard for me to understand, I had never imagined a Dead could act like this. "Godric?" I stood up and asked interrupting his trance. His eyes met mine like he was asking what was wrong, so I just continued "I need to leave. I have to go and keep looking for Bernard."

"You are not going anywhere." he replied coldly.

"I am going wherever I want." I quickly objected.

"Even if you could, Danielle, why would you be so fool?" his words were harsh, but he was right. It was freezing outside, and it was dark. I would end up starving and feeling sick all over again. On the other hand, I had to find Bernard anyway. He would do the same for me, I guessed. I also found myself worried, because if he would not let me go anywhere, it meant I was a prisoner of his.


	4. Bad news

**Thank you so much for the reviews. I'll keep updating :) Just let me know what you think! Have a great weekend!**

Chapter 4

Bad News

We were standing in front of each other. I was still thinking about his last words. Why would I be so fool? "You don't get it. I _need_ to find my brother." I finally said.

"Despite his disdain towards you? I am sure that if he is alive, he is not looking for you." His emotionless face was starting to deeply annoy me. How could he say such thing?

"You know _nothing_ about us!" He had irritated me and I didn't speak in my usual tone this time. I also pushed him as hard as I could, but he barely moved. I angered him, and for the first time I saw his scary fangs. He grabbed my arms and I closed my eyes when I felt my back quickly hitting the wall.

"There was not a moment that I have not treated you with respect." His voice was deep and his face was an inch away from mine. I slowly opened my eyes but avoided staring at his eyes. "I'm not your age, Danielle. You have no idea how old I am, so I want you to respect me from now on." He kept staring at me from that short distance for a while. I was not sure if he was waiting for an answer or something. "Will you respect me?" he suddenly tightened his grip on my arms. This time I closed my eyes in pain and just nodded hoping he would stop hurting me.

When he finally let me go, I immediately brushed my arms with my hands in order to ease the pain. I stood still, my back was a bit hurt too, and it was still touching the wall when he asked "Did I hurt your arms?" I opened my eyes and noticed he had stepped back. He also seemed worried.

"I am fine." I looked away. His question was quite obvious, because my arms had big red marks from his cold hands.

"I am sorry. I just wish you had not provoked me like that at all." I could feel he really meant it but I just ignored and changed the subject.

"I can't leave this place." I took a step in his direction and he glared me quietly. "And I can't do anything about it. Right?" I continued unsure if I would be upsetting him again. He just nodded indifferent. "I am a prisioner of yours, then." I finally concluded and I could see he was confused. After a moment of complete silence, he opened his mouth as if he were about to say something but walked away. When he got to the door, he simply said "You'd better rest."

"Here?" I asked wide-eyed.

"Yes." He turned his back on me and opened the door.

"I thought this was your bedroom." I could not believe I was going to sleep on that huge bed.

"It is. I will be somewhere else." He finally left.

...

I didn't know whether it was day or night when I woke up. I slept so damn well on that bed. It felt like I've been sleeping for days when I jumped out of the bed and tried to leave the bedroom. The door was locked. There were no windows, anything. I didn't have a clue on how I was going to escape. I headed to the bathroom, and there was a big mirror in there where I stared at myself for a few minutes after washing my sleepy face. I had never had time to do that before. My black hair was quite long, straight and messy. I could not remember the last time I had it cut. I had my father's light blue eyes, but I noticed my skin was paler than usual. Maybe I was getting sick. I had an awful look, but at least I was clean.

A knock on the door woke me up from my trance. Why the hell would anyone knock on that door that I could not even open? I walked towards it, suspicious, but then I heard the familiar voice on the other side "I'm coming in." Well, _just do it_, then, I thought.

"I brought you some clothes." the Dead handed me a bag full of it. "Get ready for dinner." He invited.

"Dinner?" I replied quickly and arching my eyebrows.

"You slept the entire day." He noted patiently.

I nodded confused and headed back to the bathroom. I opened the bag and there was a dark blue dress in it. I tried it on and it fit perfectly. I put the white sandals and instantly looked like a girl. I mean, I was a girl, but I had never wore a dress ever in my life. I've been wearing heavy jeans, heavy jackets and boots since I can remember. I looked nice in that kind of clothes, but I didn't look like myself, it was a bit uncomfortable.

I left the bathroom and the Dead seemed to be pretty surprised "You look beautiful in this dress." he said staring at my new outfit.

I was not sure about what his intentions were, but I blushed anyways. I hated compliments. I think he noticed that, because he sightly smiled. That made me blush even more. How stupid I was.

After that embarrassing and unnecessary situation, he led me to the dinning room. There was a big table with all kinds of food there. I was not even hungry, because I was used to eating little food every day. But the meal seemed delicious. He sat right next to me and suddenly said "I will be away for the night and most of tomorrow." It took me by surprise and I asked a very stupid question.

"Are you going to kill humans?" I was uneasy with that thought.

I did not comprehend his glare at me. He slightly scowled at my unpleasant question "It is not my priority tonight." He answered as he looked away. We did not talk about anything else. Before I had finished eating, he left without a sound.

Afterwards, I ran to the Dead's bedroom and changed my clothes as fast as I could. I put the old ones and carefully got out of his place. There was no one there to stop me from leaving the house. Luckily, it was not as cold as the other night. I was just worried, because Godric had taken my knife, and I had no weapons to defend myself anymore.

Almost half an hour later, walking in the same direction, I recognized the place I was. I was quite far from the village, but there was no point in going back there, at that time I was just trying to track my brother. He was smart, he must have left me some clues, anything.

I felt like the dawn was coming when it finally happened. I was not even sure where I was anymore, I had been walking all night and was feeling pretty tired. Was it real? I couldn't tell, but I did see my brother just standing right in front of me.

"Bernard!" I ran to him as fast as I could, although he was not even moving a single finger in my direction.

When I finally got to him, he had his lips quirking at the corners. "Missed me?" he asked and then smirked. I knew he was being sarcastic and I could not answer him when I saw his sharp fangs. I understood everything.

"What happened to you? You-" I asked wide-eyed. I was simply shocked. Then for a moment I felt really scared. Bernard didn't like me, and didn't care about me. He was probably going to kill me or do something bad to me.

It didn't take too much long for me to realize I was right about it. Bernard chuckled and grabbed my arms tight before I could think of any way out of there. "The best thing that could ever happen to anyone."

"You are hurting me, Bernard!" I tried to make him stop but it only made him laugh morbidly.

I had not thought he could be that mean to me until he said "I am so, so sorry, little sister, but I am taking you with me." His tone was very ironic.

Out of nowhere, another Dead quickly appeared right next to him and told him "Well done, my child. Now let's look for a buyer. I'm sure this one can be quite valuable. You seem to know her?"

Bernard took me in his arms and nodded, confirming the other Dead's impression. One of them put a bag over my head and I could not see anything else. We did leave very quickly after that. I did not know where I was going, but by their conversation, this time I could say I was definitely going to be sold.


	5. Sold out

**I hope you like this one. Thank you a lot for the reviews ;)**

Chapter 5

Sold out

I had been blindfolded and could just imagine that I was standing in a spacious room next to some other girls. I could hear some of them whining, and could also sense their fear somehow. The dealers were introducing us to the buyers one by one. Some of the girls were being sold just immediately. I'd never thought I would ever be in this kind of situation.

The first time I spoke to a Dead was that night when Godric had spared me. His respect towards me was not common at all, I knew I could not expect this from any other Dead. For a moment I thought about my best friend Anne and how she once considered living with a Dead might not be so bad after all. She was so wrong, I hoped she was okay. I was well reminded about Dead's permanent violent mood when I felt one's rough hands suddenly grab my arm very tight.

"This is what I got." It was not Bernard speaking, it was probably the other Dead that was with him. "She is pretty, isn't she? Very young as well. My progeny here says she is only 17. She will learn anything very fast." Damn! I finally figured things out, so that one speaking was really my brother's maker! I couldn't accept it. My own brother was now a Dead. And worse, he had just put me into this. He was selling me, like I meant nothing to him. Those thoughts made me shiver and I could feel my eyes getting wet. Why did I have to be so weak all the time?

I wondered how many Deads were there watching us. The introduction was over and I could hear murmurs, probably from the ones discussing whether I was worth it or not. That was just so humiliating.

"I'll take her." A woman finally said harshly.

"You will not." A familiar voice quickly cut her and completed "I will."

"Sheriff, if that is what you wish, then just take her." The woman replied. Her voice was trembling and I sensed her embarrassment quite clearly.

"You don't need to pay." The dealer promptly offered. I could feel he was not happy about his own offer, but I thought it was just something he had to do anyway.

"Don't worry. I will pay you. She will be mine." I did know that voice. It was Godric's. I didn't know he was the Sheriff for that area, though. A Sheriff was responsible for punishing Deads who destroyed other Deads. They were usually stronger than the others and always very tough and mean, but that was just what I'd heard once from someone from the village, I couldn't know for sure. After what I had done, I doubted Godric would still be nice to me. I was really screwed. I could notice the rest of the buyers were curious about the Sheriff's sudden interest in me. I thought it would be wise to pretend I didn't know him.

The Deads kept talking for what it seemed to be an eternity. I was not even paying attention to them anymore, it was just terrible not to be able to see anything. I had been standing the whole time and, after chasing my brother for hours, my legs were just wobbly and hurt. I needed to rest them. Luckily, when I was about to fall down, Godric finally decided to leave.

"I will take her now. The sun is going down and I have other things to do. I will send someone to your place to deliver your payment." Godric said, he seemed serious by the tone of his voice. I realized I had spent the entire day in there. No wonder I felt so restless.

"Where will you take her?" That was definitely my brother's voice. I wondered why he was asking if he'd never cared at all. I wondered what my mother would think about this whole situation. She would be so sad, and my father would be so disappointed. I never thought we would come to this. He couldn't stand me, okay, but selling his own sister? That was just cruel.

"That is none of your concern." Godric replied dryly. It was strange to put it that way, but I felt a bit safe with him. At least I was sure my brother wouldn't try anything against me again.

"Forgive him, Sheriff, he is a newborn." Apparentely the dealer was embarrassed by Bernard's question.

"There is no problem." Godric grabbed my left arm, hurting me a lot. I groaned in pain, and he seemed to ignore me. "Now if you excuse me." Even if I was blindfolded, I could sense everyone's eyes on me and all the obvious curiosity.

Godric led me to a car. I only knew it because he finally took off whatever was covering my eyes. I had never been inside a car before, I could tell it by some old pictures a friend once showed me. Human refugees like me rarely had cars, it was almost impossible to find gas, so practically only Deads had it. I looked around amazed and, for a moment, I forgot how troubled I was. For an instant my eyes met Godric's, and he was seriously staring at me. He was impatient. I quickly looked away, afraid of him, and spent the rest of the trip staring at the window, avoiding his glare. Since I could sense nothing from him, I got even more worried about what was coming next.

"Follow me." Godric said quietly when we got back to his place. He locked us in his bedroom and I could see he was very tired. I imagined he had not rested enough during the day.

He was still behind me when I cowardly closed my eyes, waiting for him to kill me. I felt his sigh in front of me, I did not know Deads could breathe like that. "Open your eyes, Danielle." he ordered. I did it and he continued clearly bored, this time he was not making an effort to hide his emotions. "Why did you leave my house, when I told you not to?"

I didn't know how I was supposed to answer this question. I realized anything I said would just upset him even more. At the same time, he was really waiting for me to say something, so I looked down at my feet and confessed "I don't think you can understand. I-," What else could I say? I ran my hand through_ my hair and that was it. _

_ "Indeed, I can't understand how you can be so fool and so reckless. You have acted like a stubborn child." his glare was enigmatic "I will no longer admit that." _

_ That was not what I was trying to say, I wanted to tell him that he couldn't understand because he was a Dead, and didn't know what love means to us humans. I loved my brother despite all the problems we had. I didn't know what his words could mean, but I was sure it wouldn't be a good thing. "Fair enough." I sighed aprehensive. I could see he did not understand why I had said that, because he slightly frowned. _

_ Godric didn't say anything else either, so I vaguely commented "My brother is now one of you."_

_ "I noticed" He stepped back. "I also noticed he was the one who found you and sold you." He put on that emotionless face again._

_ "He did it." My voice was a bit weak. I cleared my throat, but it didn't help very much. _

"You mean nothing to him. You had better understand that now." He concluded heading to the door.

"Why do you care?" I asked before he could leave.

"I do not." He replied dryly. "You will be locked in here whenever I leave. You will not have a chance to escape again."

"We'll see." I just muttered. I was being insolent, I knew it. I was even more sure about it when he turned himself back to me again and slowly walked towards me. My spine shivered, I definitely shouldn't have said that to him.

His face was a inch from mine and his long fangs were out just like the other time. Then, he said in a very deep voice "We will not see." I scowled a bit and unwittingly touched his chest, slightly pushing him because he was too close to me. He did not move, instead, he held my waist tightly so I couldn't go anywhere. Then, with an intimidating tone, he started "I was in that place in order to rent a human. I was thirsty." I looked at him expecting his next words in fear "I never found one, because you showed up. You have angered me and you are the reason why I am still thirsty." He was still holding my waist, and I had no doubt that he could notice how terrified I was. I hated to be always so obvious. "If I haven't drunk your blood yet, it is because I am making a huge effort here. Do you understand?"

I just nodded, and my forehead almost touched his nose.

"Good." he said emotionless again. He had retracted his fangs "Now, I expect you to rest."

I nodded again and he left. It took me some time to move from where I was. I slowly headed to the bathroom and took a hot shower. Afterwards, I laid on the bed and tried to sleep, but I failed. I could not stop thinking about my brother, and how my life would be like from now on. Now that Bernard was a Dead, there was no hope on ever getting my old life back, not even partially. I just had to accept that I was about to become Godric's slave, like the human that had been serving me dinner lately. Or maybe not. There was still something he did not know about me. Something that I could use to save myself after all, I just didn't know how exactly. I had to think of a good plan.


	6. Tell me about it

Chapter 6

Tell me about it

I spent hours and hours doing nothing in that room. Was it day or was it night? I couldn't tell anymore. I tried my best to find a way out, to think of the perfect escape plan, but I failed. I was a failure. And there was absolutely nothing to do in that bedroom. It was scary not to know what was going to happen next. Godric just gave me the creeps, I could not stay in there any longer.

I had been sitting on the bed, staring at the wall and thinking of nothing for almost the entire day when I heard the knock on the door and it finally opened. Godric walked in and let me know that there was someone that wanted to meet me. He didn't ask me if I actually wanted to meet someone, but I was so bored that I imagined it could not be that bad after all.

A very tall and blond Dead followed Godric and stood right in front of me. He was way taller than Godric and it was a bit funny to see them close to each other. I left the bed and could already feel his eyes on me, even though I avoided looking back at him. I was obviously very scared. Maybe I was just expecting another human like me, couldn't he introduce me to a human friend or something? Who was that one and what did he want from me? And why all Deads had to be so damn handsome?

"I don't want you to live your life being afraid of us, Danielle." Godric suddenly spoke again, but I was not looking at them at all. His voice made me pay more attention to him, but I was still distracted. My feet had never been so interesting before, and I could not stop staring at them. I was nervous, so I just replied what seemed to be obvious to me then "I've always lived my life being afraid of you. That is really not a big deal."

The blond Dead chuckled "The little one's got a temper." I rolled my eyes at his stupid comment. I was not going to open my mouth again. He might have realized that, because he promptly introduced himself "My name is Eric Northman. Godric's progeny." Well, if he was Godric's progeny, he was probably the one my father had saved back then, I thought. Finally, I looked at him and met his deep blue eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Northman." I said ironically and with a fake smile.

"Nice to meet you too, Danielle." He gave me a similar smile in return. "I imagined you would be older."

I glared at him, confused. "I am sorry to disappoint you." I finally said. Actually, I understood his comment, my father was sixty two years old when he died, so Northman couldn't have guessed he would have such a young daughter like me.

"No, you are not." This time he actually smiled and noted "You have his eyes." Was he really going there? I didn't want to talk about my father with him. If he were there to talk about him, I was not sure if that would be the right moment. I was just not ready to listen to him. I only noticed I had looked away when Godric broke the silence "I will let you both talk. I will be in my office, my child." and then he was gone.

Eric sat on the bed, next to where I was standing and confessed with a deep voice "Arthur saved my life." That was it, straight to the point, alright. I realized I had to talk to him about it anyway, so I thought of something else. Something that maybe would make things easier.

"I'm aware of that." I replied dryly. Maybe this conversation wouldn't be so bad after all. There were still some things that I wanted to know about my father and his death. I just didn't know if I were strong enough to listen to whatever he had to say to me. "May I ask you something?" I finally tried.

"Yes." He was clearly curious. "It does not mean you will get an answer, though." That warning was just so predictable. Since I had noticed that I could feel him, I guessed my ability only failed with Godric. I could feel Deads. Now I had to figure out why Godric was different, maybe he just hid his feelings better than the others.

"Can I hold your hands for a while?" That was all I needed. No one knew what I could do. I would be able to find out everything about that battle. Everything Eric knew, I would know too. I shyly smiled when he offered me his hands. They were very cold. I closed my eyes, but then all I could see and smell was blood. It was disgusting. I also saw death and felt too much pain. Although I badly wanted his informations, I had to stop seeing that, otherwise I was going to faint. How could he live with those memories? Why were they all I could see from him?

"You don't need to figure it out that way, you know." Eric suddenly spoke and I quickly opened my eyes, startled and still disturbed because of what I had seen. By the look on his face I could tell he was about to laugh at me.

"What?" I asked nervous, as if I had been caught doing something really wrong.

"I am here to tell what happened with Arthur that night. You don't need to live my memories." He said and smirked. So he knew it, _damn_, the deads knew what I can do! He probably thought about all those things in purpose, so that I would feel sick and stop. But how did he know about it? My mouth just fell open, it was always hard for me to hide my feelings. Eric seemed to ignore my surprise and confusion.

"Your father and I were not fighting together because I defend humans, but because we had the same enemy. Infected humans. They are a threat for both of us and we were both against it. During the battle he ended up saving my life, so that we could destroy the infected together. He knew I could be a strong ally, even if it were just temporarily." I confess I was disappointed, because I was hoping there were Deads willing to help humans out there, but apparentely I was wrong. "My maker was truly grateful for what Arthur had done and decided to protect you from that night on. I believe that was your father's wish. I think Godric has already told you how he had been watching over you for the last couple of years." It sounded like a question, so I quietly nodded and Eric continued "He will probably watch over you for the rest of your life." He smirked before concluding "And I'll definitely tell him about this..." Then he stopped as if he were searching for the right words "especial ability of yours. I'm sure you will be useful to him somehow."

When I heard the last part, I didn't think straight before just contesting desperately "_No!_" I said almost interrupting him.

"No?" He laughed pretty amused. I was almost sure he was laughing at my face this time.

"No! If he still doesn't know, you won't tell him!" I really didn't realize I was actually giving orders to a powerful Dead until Northman started to laugh out loud even more.

"Do you think you can tell me what to do?" He defied me.

"I'm-" I unwittingly held his arm with one of my hands "I'm sorry." He just looked at my hand holding him and then back at me. "I just didn't want him to know about this." I released his arm, giving up.

"He needs to know everything about you." The Dead looked in my begging eyes. He was clearly amused by the whole situation.

"I understand." Suddenly I was afraid of him again. I stared at my feet and felt like crying. I was not going to cry in front of him, though. I just wouldn't do it. "How did you know about me?" Despite the fear, I needed to know it.

"I remember how Arthur could do it too. When you asked to hold my hands, I realized that you are just like him." He was almost smiling again. I didn't like the way he talked to me, like he was superior somehow. "Next time, you should try to be more discreet."

"Oh, thank you so much for the tip." I said giving him a quick and angry glare.

"I like your sense of humor, tiny human." This time he smirked and I hated it. Then, he quickly left and unexpectedly forgot to lock the door. That was a great opportunity and I just couldn't lose it, so I waited a few minutes and left the room. This time all I wanted was to walk around the place and maybe meet someone like me.

I hadn't gone so far, when I heard someone call my name in a whisper: "_Danielle!_".


	7. Meeting

**First of all, sorry for the delay. Thank you very much for your reviews and please keep on telling me what you think of the story. Have a nice week! :) **

Chapter 7

Meeting

"_Danielle!_" I heard it again and looked around searching for the was coming from a dark corridor, so I did not know whether I should run away or go for it. I considered my options for only a few seconds and came to the conclusion that if it were a Dead, I would had been killed already, so I walked through the corridor. At the end of it, there was a small empty room. The human that had been serving me lately was in there. She was the one who was calling me.

"Hi, Danielle! What are you doing out here?" She asked curious with a soft voice. She looked older than me, maybe 25 years old. She had dark hair like me, and her skin was tanned. She had big black eyes and I was not sure exactly why, but I didn't think she was going to be friendly towards me.

"They left the door opened. I just wanted to walk around the place, you know. I don't think Godric would be angry about it." I answered dryly, I was afraid she might want to tell me off or something.

"Oh! You should go back soon. I mean, if they see you here, it won't be good for you." I glared at her trying to show her that I was not doing anything wrong. Her advice was quite obvious actually. She noticed that apparently, because she just changed the subject. "My name is Betty Williams, by the way."

"Nice to meet you." I smiled a bit confused and we shook hands awkwardly. She knew my name, and something about her was just suspicious. I felt it. I wouldn't trust her.

"How long have you been living in here?" I asked a bit indifferently and started to walk around the small room. There was almost nothing to see in there, just an armchair on a corner. The place was also pretty dark.

"Oh, I don't know for sure, maybe six months or seven." Her eyes were twinkling and I guessed that maybe she had spent all those months all alone among Deads and now she had finally found someone _human_ to talk to. However, she didn't seem to be willing to tell me anything else about the life she had before. And there was something else, something I couldn't tell about her. She was kind of different, but I didn't know whether she liked her life in there or not. It was a bit harder to read her memories and feelings than other people's, and I guessed she was trying to lie to me.

"Is it true that you are staying in Godric's bedroom?" She asked intrigued.

"Well, I guess so. He told me that it was his bedroom." I was indifferent about it, I wondered where Betty had been sleeping, though, because I felt her envy. Quickly, I was sure she didn't want to be my friend, I just couldn't understand what her intentions were. I didn't have time to think about it, though, because before the girl could say anything else, Godric suddenly walked in the room and held her by her neck. His hands were so tight on her, that I thought he would strangle her or even rip her head off.

Betty was turning red while gasping for air with a terrified look on her face. "_Stop!_" I immediately shouted at her aggressor. I held Godric's arm and my nails buried it. "You are going to kill her! Stop!" I shouted louder once more, but he didn't even look at me.

"What are you doing here?" He asked Betty loosening his grip a little so she could speak.

"Please, don't-" She whispered while trying to breathe "Don't kill us."

Godric threw her on the floor and she kept on gasping for air. I was about to stay on my knees and help her, but the Dead stopped me. "Don't." he ordered dryly. He had a little bit of blood on his arm and I figured out it was my fault. I froze. "Follow me." He started walking, but I couldn't move. I kept on staring at Betty on the floor, in pain and shocked. So he just said emotionless "_Move_." I could never read his face. I never knew what he was feeling. That made things even more scary to me.

This time we didn't go back to his bedroom, instead, he led me to some kind of basement and it disturbed me. There were two empty cells in there and some weapons on the wall, including silver chains. We got inside of one of the cells and he finally spoke. "That human neither was supposed to be there, nor to talk to you. Next time, I will kill her. Do you understand?" I nodded silently and he asked "Why did you even leave my room?"

"I-," I was so nervous that it took me some time to finally organize the thoughts in my head. "Eric left the door unlocked, opened, so I-" Godric's emotionless glare made me stop sooner than I wanted. He didn't need to be furious at all to scare me. He was naturally very scary and intimidating.

"So you disobeyed me." He just said completed dryly. I didn't realize how wrong I was until he finally said those words. I really believed that leaving his room for a while wouldn't be such a problem. I was not getting out of the house or anything like that after all. I was not planning on escaping. However, he seemed really mad at me, even if he was keeping his face expressionless. I looked down, and just could no longer hold the crying. This time he didn't wipe my tears, instead, he stared at me, like he was impatiently waiting for me to stop it. I didn't, though, I just kept on crying and silently staring at my feet. I was embarrassed because of this behavior, it was something I had absolutely no control over.

"You will be staying in here for a while. You left me no other choice." He said and walked to the door.

"I don't care." I really didn't. I wanted him to go away, I didn't want him to just sit there and watch me cry. I wish I had died with my mother, at least I would be with her somewhere. I just laid on the bed and closed my eyes while the door locked. It was completely dark in there. The bed was uncomfortable and it reminded me of the small one I had back then in the village, this one was still better than that one I used to rest on.

It was always dark, so I didn't know whether it were day or night anymore. I couldn't get up either. That cell was getting colder and colder with time. Sometimes I saw that someone had opened the door to deliver me my meals, but I never ate any of them. I never even felt hungry. I didn't want to leave that bed ever again. I was too tired of everything, I cried every time I thought about my family. I wasn't sure if I were actually thinking about them, or if it were nightmares. It was hard to tell when I was sleeping and when I was awake. I had my eyes closed most of the times anyway.

I don't know how many hours or how many days had passed when I heard the door opening. The light outside just blinded me. It was hurting my eyes even though I had them closed. A conversation started.

"What do you mean she is not eating?" I knew it was my father. He was there to save me. He was finally taking care of me again and I was just glad he was still alive.

"I swear I tried to make her eat, but she wouldn't even open her eyes." I recognized Betty's voice. I was happy she was alive as well, even though I felt she was not happy that my father was there to save me. She spoke again "I'm s-"

"Get out of here. _Now_." I had never seen my father talk to someone that way before. I felt him walking in my direction and that made me shiver. He took me his arms and we got out of that dark and cold cell.

"I'm very cold." I whispered and placed my hand around his neck.

"You are sick." He replied quickly. I wondered where he was taking me. I wondered if he knew that mom had been killed.

"We have to escape, Dad." I whispered again and this time I felt really tired. "The Dead will kill us. He is strong. He hurt me. I'm scared." I sighed, it was hard to breathe. It was so cold, I couldn't stop shaking, but I had to keep warning my father. "Let's esc-"

"Don't say a word, Danielle." He cut me. "You will be fine."

We stopped somewhere and I felt his hands carefully taking off my shirt and my pants. I was in my underwear and I felt so weak that I couldn't even feel shy. "What are you doing? Stop, Dad, it is cold." It was so hard to speak, but he didn't seem to listen to me at all. He took me in his arms again and when I was finally able to open my eyes I noticed we were in a bathroom.

I felt the water hit my body. It was freezing. I tried to get out of that shower but my father was in there with me. He held me tight so I was not able to go anywhere. "Please, it's freezing..." I begged him, but I felt like he was not listening to me. Instead, he ran his hand through my hair, making sure it was getting wet. I got closer to him and rested my face on his naked chest, it was the furthest I could get from the freezing water. I was slowly getting my conscious back. I only realized that because I finally saw that that man was not my father. It was someone else in the shower with me. What the hell was he doing? I looked at him confused and whispered just before passing out. "Godric?"


	8. Making amends

**This one is a bit longer than the others. I hope you like it :)**

Chapter 8

Making amends

I slowly opened my eyes and found myself on the Dead's bed again. I was wearing a big and loose black T-shirt that covered my also black underwear. I tried to move, but I was feeling too weak. It hurt. I sighed and noticed Godric was sitting on the bed very close to me. I looked at him and opened my mouth, willing to say something, anything, but he broke the silence first.

"Just rest." He put his cold hands on my forehead and it felt so good. "You have a fever. I asked Betty to bring you something to eat."

"But," I scowled and muttered "I don't feel hungry."

"You have to eat." He said emotionless.

I just looked away upset. I knew I couldn't say no to him. I didn't want him to hurt me again. I actually didn't know why he would just go and take care of me all over again, and at another moment hurt me and make me feel miserable. It was hard to understand. I was sure that it was not what my father would have wanted.

"I am deeply sorry." He apologized awkwardly and unexpectedly. "I was not aware that you were sick. I would have taken care of you sooner." These kind words were just not supposed to come out from a Dead's mouth. "And I believe Betty wanted to let you die." His conclusion didn't shock me at all. That woman was weird indeed.

"You are a Dead. You can't possibly be sorry." My voice was low and fragile.

"Of course I can." he objected. "You had angered me, that's why I locked you in that cell. I had no other option. You were just trying to escape, all the time." He touched my chin making me look back at him. "I regret that. I don't want to harm you ever again." I think he just said that because he didn't want to start an argument.

I chuckled in disbelief and it hurt my throat. I coughed and said almost voiceless "You will, it is just a matter of time."

"Please, don't say that, Danielle." I felt he was really begging, it was actually very weird. Maybe he was making an effort not to sound too intimidating once again.

"Why are you being nice to me?" I frowned suspicious and he quickly stared at the floor avoiding my glare.

After a short moment of silence, he answered. "I felt you earlier. Eric had told me about you, about what you can do, but I did not know it could work the other way around." If he were human, he would definitetly be blushing. He just looked so embarrassed and it almost made me smile, but I didn't understand what he was trying to say.

"What are you talking about?" I asked not following him at all.

"Eric had told me you could live our memories and feel other people's emotions. But when I took you out of the cell, I touched you and I felt you. I felt your pain, and your memories were all inside my head." My mouth just fell open, it could not be true! I felt invaded and embarrassed, and I wondered what he had seen. "It was so disturbing and painful." Godric continued, still staring at the floor "Now I feel responsible for that. I want to make amends." He concluded, but I didn't pay attention to his last words very much. He had felt me. What the hell? It could not be possible.

"It can't be, Godric." I just refused to believe him.

"I'm not lying to you." He looked back at me emotionless again. So he had felt me, even while I couldn't do the same to him, I couldn't feel him whenever I wanted or needed to. That was not fair.

"So, what is it going to be from now on?" I asked unhappy. "Are we going to be friends like nothing had ever happened? Because I don't feel like being friends with you at all." I was harsh and petulant. For a moment I pictured Godric throwing me back to the cell again, or worse.

"I understand you." He smiled amused instead and that deeply annoyed me. It was like he was not taking me seriously. "We don't need to be friends. I'm just telling I'm not going to hurt you anymore."

"Until I try to escape once again." I completed. What was wrong with me? I knew exactly what the problem was – I just couldn't keep my mouth shut.

"Why do you want to escape so badly, Danielle? What is there outside this house waiting for you?" His words stabbed my heart, but he was right. There was nothing. Nobody. I could not even say I was going to be free, because I wouldn't survive on my own. I could never find another village to live in, because no one would accept me either.

I didn't answer his questions. I didn't want to admit he was right, even though I knew it deep inside.

Betty saved me from that awkward moment. She knocked and Godric just took the meal from her and closed the door again. He never let anybody walk in his bedroom, except Eric Northman and I. I actually didn't know why I could sleep in there. I got that Northman was his progeny, but I was nothing to him. When he was getting the meal with Betty, I felt the way he was blaming her for what had happened to me. He believed she made me get sick on purpose, and then left me there to die, but I was not sure about it. I was still feeling very weak and my bones were just too heavy.

Someone that I hoped was not Betty had prepared a pea soup that tasted delicious. It took me almost an hour to finish eating it, I had an awful sore throat that made the process quite painful. Godric stayed next to me all the time. We didn't talk about escaping anymore. I guessed he realized how I knew he was right after all. At least I didn't have to admit it. It was better off this way.

"You will get well soon." Godric said kindly.

"You sound like a human." I said ironically. I was not expecting it, but he just laughed out loud like I had never seen before. He was handsome, as I said once, and his laughter was really contagious. I smiled back at him timidly.

"And you sometimes have the sense of humor of a vampire." He replied still laughing.

"Well, I should take that as an offense." I quickly showed him a serious face and his smile disappeared. He looked at me worried and that made me chuckle "You should have seen you face." I said and we both laughed joyfully together.

"Your comment can also be considered offensive. No vampire likes to be compared to humans." He said still smiling.

"Well, that is a shame." I replied and looked away. I had a feeling that that conversation was not going to end well.

"Why is that?" He asked curious.

"Nevermind." I wanted to avoid arguments.

As if he were reading my thoughts, he said "You can tell me. I will not be mad at you."

I thought for a while before speaking. "Well," I didn't know how to start "I just grew up thinking that Deads are all monsters. None of you had ever proven I'm wrong." My eyes met his emotionless glare and I looked away shy. "Anyways, it doesn't matter."

"It matters to me." he placed his hands on my shoulder and stared at me. I laid on the bed again, looking at him confused. I was still feeling sick and I wondered why he was being kind towards me. He felt my pain, alright, but he was still a Dead. A powerful one, I could tell. It was too much for me to think about. I closed my eyes and he pressed his cold hand against my forehead.

"It is almost dawn. Rest, Danielle." I listened to him with my eyes still closed. The last hours had passed quite fast. "Call me if you need anything. I will not lock the door, I will trust you this time."

"Only because I'm too tired to try anything." I smirked. I heard him leave and felt terribly lonely. The feeling didn't last very long though, because I quickly fell asleep.

...

I can't tell for how long I had slept when the Dead woke me up gently caressing my head. I opened my eyes and it took me some time to understand I was still on his bed, but I was already feeling much better. I went to the bathroom, took a shower and changed my clothes, while he waited for me in the dining room, where I had dinner.

On my way to the dining room, I ran into Betty. It seemed she was angry at me, she scowled and walked away. Maybe she still blamed me for what had happened to her or perhaps she never liked me at all. That was not enough reason to just kill somebody, though. I could not understand it, so I didn't say anything and just accepted it. When I finally got to my destination, I saw Eric Northman talking to Godric. I could feel they had been arguing about something, but they stopped right before I arrived.

"Hey hey, Danielle. How are you feeling?" Eric Northman smirked amused with my presence. I was already hating him again, so I ignored his question and grabbed a cheese sandwich on the table. Eric stood on my way with his fangs out – a scary expression that was not scaring me at all. Not after what Godric had said to me. I ignored him once again, heading to the opposite direction, then I sat on one of the chairs.

"This is what I was talking about." Northman suddenly said to Godric, and they quickly started to speak in a language I couldn't understand. I started to eat and, a moment later, Eric just nodded and left. I could feel he was still angry, although he had that Dead's usual emotionless expression.

"He is not going to bother you for a while." Godric was now talking to me.

"Why was he angry at me?" I swallowed the sandwich and asked.

The Dead frowned and answered me with another question "Did you understand what we were discussing?"

"No, but Northman was angry, wasn't he? I felt it." I asked indifferently. I already knew the answer.

"He was. He thinks I should be more severe with you, like I generally am with other humans." He stopped and I looked at him. I was drinking a glass of orange juice. "I don't think Arthur would be happy if I kept hurting you the way I did before though."

"Hm." I muttered and finished my meal. "But he died, right? He wouldn't know." Again, what was my problem? Why was I even saying that to him? That was because it was always just too hard to keep my thoughts to myself. I had to stop speaking my mind like that. I wish I could hide my feelings more efficiently.

Godric smiled and frowned, probably because I had a regretful look after what I had just said. "I gave him my word." He stood up "I'll be out for tonight. You can leave my room this time, but you certainly cannot go anywhere outside. Understood?"

"Understood." I replied smiling. I was pretty satisfied with just walking around the house. I wasn't fully recovered from my fever after all. When the Dead finally left, I went searching for other humans. I wish I could talk to Betty, ask her why she hated me, but I knew she wouldn't even come with me. I had to do this on my own.

I never got the reason why everyone here called this place a house. It was definitely a mansion. I headed to the kitchen, and luckily Betty wasn't there. Instead, I met a guy that should be my brother's age. He looked at me terrified, and started to run out of there.

"_Wait!_" I shouted and went after him.

"Leave me alone!" He wouldn't even look back at me while he seemed to be running for his life.

I kept on following him, and he got trapped in a room with no way out. I walked in there right after him and quickly closed the door, standing with my back on it.

"Why are you running from me?" I asked gasping.

He arched his eyebrows "What the fuck?!" he was gasping too. "You know that if he kills me, it'll be your fault, right?" His bad manners upset me a little. He had a different accent, southern maybe. I'd never heard it before.

"He won't kill you!" I aproached him and he stepped back. "I just wanted to talk to you. I never have the chance of talking to humans."

"You saw what happened to Betty." he insisted. "You are trouble for us. Please, leave us alone!" I don't know for sure why, but his last words hurt me, and a tear fell from my eyes. It made me feel ridiculous, because I barely knew him. I left the room upset and I heard the guy ask "Are you crying?" I didn't answer, just kept on walking away. Maybe it would be the best for me if I just stayed in Godric's room anyway.

"_Hey_." The guy appeared in front of me. I was so distracted that I didn't even see him following me so quickly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just really don't want to get into any kind of trouble."

"Godric is not even here tonight. He _let _me get out of his room this time." I wiped my tears with my hands quickly. "You will not be in trouble, I promise. Good ni-"

"If he is not here..." He cut me "maybe we can chat a little, what do you think?" I couldn't hold my happiness, I nodded and smiled. "My name is Danielle."

"I know." he smiled too. "And I'm James."


	9. Can't be happy

**The next chapter will come only on Monday, because I'll be busy this weekend. Please, review this one :) **

Chapter 9

Can't be happy

"Nice to meet you" We spoke at the same time and laughed a little. I was a bit shy around him. James was tall and had a wavy light brown hair, he also had a little beard on his face. His eyes were dark and deep. If it weren't for the circumstances of our meeting, I'd say he was a good-looking young man that I would definitely flirt with.

We talked a lot that night. It was like we were meant to be very good friends. We had just met, but it was like I'd always known him. I told him about the village where I came from, about my parents and the reason why Godric was taking care of me. I even cried on his shoulder a little while telling him about Bernard. It was good to finally talk to a human. We understood each other very easily.

James told me his family was from Texas. He had been living in Godric's mansion for a long time. He was brought by Northman and became a kind of housekeeper. He had been doing different stuff since he first got there. He was turning twenty three that night, so we celebrated his birthday together. I helped him prepare I small chocolate cake, it was a recipe he had learned from Betty, but it was good anyway. I had never eaten a cake before and it was fun to prepare it. It looked like the house was completely empty. We sang, danced and finally ate the cake. I don't think I had had so much fun in my life before. I could feel he was very happy too. He had been locked in there for such a long time, maybe he was even happier than me.

I headed to Godric's bedroom way before dawn. I couldn't give him the chance of seeing James and I together. I didn't want him to hurt my brand new old friend. That night I also found out that apparently James didn't like Betty very much. He didn't tell me any details about it, and I did not ask why, but I could feel they were not close at all.

...

I woke up in the afternoon feeling lazy. I took a long shower and headed to the living room, hoping I could meet James again. I ended up falling asleep again, this time on the couch. I just woke up hours later, with Godric poking me.

"Wake up, Danielle." Godric's voice was lazy, and I could see Betty standing next to him.

"Godric? Betty? What is going on?" I asked confused.

"Betty, you can leave now." The Dead said and she just nodded and walked away.

"Is it something wrong?" I was worried. Even though I hadn't done anything wrong, it felt like I had. I didn't know why, maybe it was because I was happy. Happiness was something rare those days, that when you were actually able to feel it, it was just like you were breaking the rules.

"I just want to talk to you for a while." Godric was concerned about something, so I just nodded and followed him to his office.

"Last night I talked to Bernard's maker." He said indifferently. I was pretty surprised. That was definitely not what I was expecting to hear. I didn't say anything, though, just waited for him to continue "He is very interested in buying you back." Godric looked calm, his voice was low and that just made the situation more terrifying. "I wonder if he wants to buy you because of your brother, or if it is because of your gift."

"Bernard doesn't know anything about it. It can't be." I assured him but there was something I needed to know. "Are you go-" Before I could finish the question, Godric shook his head and I sighed relieved. He was also happy because my brother didn't know about my gift, I could feel it.

"You will be mine forever, Danielle." I noticed that he really tried to appease me with those words, but they were pretty strong. What did he mean by forever? I didn't question him, though. I was not quite ready for his answer.

"Hm." I said slightly blushing, which made him smile and I felt a bit ridiculous. "Did you see my brother?"

"Yes. I didn't talk to him, though." He looked away, obviously there was something he was not telling me, so I asked "What?"

"He is no longer your brother, Danielle." Godric was serious this time. "He is a savage vampire."

I felt like crying and I couldn't even hide it from him. "So, is that all you wanted to talk say to me?" I said standing up.

"Yes." He answered dryly.

"Do you mind if I leave?" I was not able to look at him, the tears were almost falling. I think he got that, because he just opened the door and I left quickly.

I was going to Godric's bedroom, when I ran into James. He was heading to the kitchen, so I followed him. I was upset and I needed someone to talk to.

"Now is not a good time, girl." He said avoiding my eyes.

"Please, I _need_ to talk to you! I'm so sad!" I begged him, even though it seemed like he was not listening to me.

"And I need to work. You know Godric is here tonight, don't you?" He turned himself to me and put his hands on my shoulder, staring at me deeply. It was like he was trying to convince me to go away with his glare. "We can talk some other time." he completed.

"No!" I objected. "Let me help you here in the kitchen then. I got to do something. Anything!" I was almost getting on my knees.

"Oh, you're one stubborn girl." He smiled "Five minutes." I instantly got full of joy. That was all I needed. He led me to some old stairs in the back of the kitchen. The place was a bit dark and we sat there as I quickly told him the bad news about my brother. James wiped my tears and made me feel a bit better. I don't know how exactly it happened, but at some point our faces were so close that I felt like kissing him. And I just did it. I touched his lips with mine, and he carefully pushed me and whispered with a beautiful smile on his face "Are you crazy?"

I looked back at him and smirked, without saying a word. We kept staring at each other for a brief moment, and soon it was his turn to kiss me. I smiled, because I knew our feelings were mutual. I just felt it. Our kiss was long, slow and passionate. He wanted me, and I could feel him all around me. I wanted him as well and held the back of his head, I just didn't want it to end.

We were too busy to notice that someone was right behind us until a cold voice spoke "James." We heard the familiar voice and quickly stood up. It was the Dead. James looked at him and I could see that he was afraid. Afraid for me mostly. "Go back to work." The Dead spoke again and I just nodded to James, letting him go. He glared at Godric and left. There was nothing he could do after all. I felt bad for him.

"Go to my room, Danielle. Now." It was an order. I couldn't tell if he were angry at me. I hoped not. At least he hadn't hurt James. I walked quickly and Godric was right behind me, he closed the door when I got there.

"I see you and James are friends already." He stated emotionless.

"Are you going to hurt him?" I asked almost interrupting him.

"Not really." I could feel he very was irritated. "But I don't want you to get close to him like that."

"Why not?" I didn't want to defy him or anything. I really just wondered.

"You are mine." He was quite dry and scary. Again those strong words, I stared at him for a moment, I had to ask him the question, but I didn't know exactly how to do it. "I don't know what this means." I finally said, and although it was not a direct question, I expected him to answer me.

I didn't know why he looked at me arching his eyebrows. He just quickly recovered from his surprise and said emotionless "This means you have to do as I say."

I slowly sat on the bed, upset. "But he is such a good friend." I said staring at my feet. "And he's human."

"If you see James again, I will have to kill him." Godric was standing right in front of me, I stood up and pushed him shouting "_No!_" He quickly showed me his fangs with that evil face of his. I closed my eyes afraid of what was coming, but nothing happened, so I slowly opened them again.

He had hid his fangs, but had a furious glare at me. I could feel he was struggling inside himself. "I am _really_ sorry." He finally whispered as I started to cry. I didn't even know for what reason anymore. I guess I was just scared of him again. I didn't want to be his. I didn't want to stop seeing James, either.

Hiding my face behind my hands, I didn't noticed Godric getting closer to me. He hugged me unexpectedly. I instinctively pushed him away, but he didn't move. I just blushed and awkwardly hugged him back, placing my hands behind his broad shoulders. For my surprise, I immediately felt him. It was hard to believe it, but he was also very vulnerable at that moment. Was he really jealous of me? That was weird and probably impossible, so I ignored it.


	10. Good job

**Thank you so much for your reviews! I like what you say about Danielle, because when I think of this story I try to make her confusing. That is because I'm writing about a very different world, and I'd like her to think differently comparing to us. I hope you like this chapter and I can tell things are starting to change on the next one. See you soon! **

Chapter 10

Good job

The next couple of weeks passed quite fast. I almost didn't see Godric around. I managed to tell James that we couldn't see each other anymore, otherwise he would end up being killed. But, honestly, since the Dead was out most of the times, James and I were secretly meeting each other once in a while. Until one night Godric was finally back.

When he arrived, I was in the bedroom putting away some clothes. He quickly walked in and that scared the life out of me. "I need you. _Now_." he said sharply. I was still disturbed by his sudden appearence when I nodded and followed him. He led me outside, to a car. It was the first time in a very long time that I was leaving that place. I was not feeling good about it, though. I wondered if he were going to sell me or something, maybe he had changed his mind about me being his. At that moment I could not think about anything worse than being sold.

"Hey, little one." I didn't need to guess who was driving. Northman was already making me despise him a lot.

"What am I here for, _Godric_?" I asked completely ignoring the driver.

"Eric has a problem that needs to be solved right away." Godric glared at Eric, I could see he was trying to make him shut up. "Apparentely, someone was planning on destroying him. Someone that works with him. You are going to tell us who did it, by looking into their memories."

"So, I'm going to help him." I said staring at Northman. I didn't want to do that at all. "What will he do to the guilty one?"

"I will fucking rip him apart." Eric raised his voice, but quickly changed to his emotionless face, after Godric stare at him seriously making him stop. It was so funny to see how Eric was like Godric's puppy.

I looked away. So, if I told him who had done it, the person would have a terrible death. It was going to be my fault. I closed my eyes trying not to think about it and I felt Godric's cold hand touching my arm. I looked at his hand, and then at his eyes, but he didn't say a word. He didn't let go of me either, until we were finally there.

...

I never understood why Eric could not just go and glamour those humans. They could certainly solve the problem by themselves, but maybe they wanted to test me or something. I sat on a chair and a woman in her thirties sat in front of me. I held her hands and she was clearly scared. I felt her, I saw her memories. It was not her. I looked at Godric and slightly shook my head. I didn't know if I could say my "verdict" aloud.

Hours passed, dozens of people sat in front of me and nothing. No one was guilty. I had never done this for so much time before. I felt terribly exhausted.

"Is that it?" Northman started. Why couldn't he shut up? "Are you going to hide the guilty one from me? Then I'll rip _you _apart." He walked towards me. I was so tired that I couldn't even stand up. I knew Godric was going to stop him, and that is what he did.

"If it's not a human," Godric stood in his way. "then we will probably have to check the vampires."

"That is impossible." Northman refused. "It _has_ to be a human." His maker gave him a reprimanding glare and he soon called the first Dead. It was more reasonable to think that way, it would be very hard for a human to kill Eric, it was more likely that a vampire was the guilty one after all.

The suspect sat in front of me and I looked at Godric scared. He just nodded asking me to start. It was different now, Deads could just kill me quite quickly if they felt threatened.

The Dead was a redhead woman, she was pretty. I touched her hands and closed my eyes. The rest happened too fast for me to understand. All of a sudden she grabbed my neck and Godric almost at the same time grabbed hers. "Let go of her." He said with his fangs out.

"If I let go of her you will destroy me." She started to cry. It was the first time I had ever seen a Dead crying, I didn't even know it was possible. She had bloody tears on her face, disgusting.

"Let go of her." His tone didn't change and she finally did as he said, giving up. Godric's words made her cry even more, he was so cold "She is all yours, my child". Northman quickly fulfilled his promise and cut her in half. Right in front of me. There was blood everywhere and that was the last thing I saw. The last memory I have from that place. The next thing I know I was in the car resting my head on Godric's shoulder. Nobody said anything during the trip.

When we got back to his place, Eric left again. I think he went back to his home. I was glad about that, he was irritating and I could never feel comfortable around him. Godric followed me to his bedroom, it seemed he wanted to talk to me. I was feeling tired and really not in the mood, but I was afraid of saying "no" to him. I sat on the bed and yawned.

"I know you must be exhausted, but I have to talk to you." He sat next to me and started "First, good job earlier." He was serious and it didn't surprise me that I couldn't get what he was feeling. It was already difficult to read him, and I was so tired that I couldn't even try harder.

"I don't think I did anything useful." I stated and yawned again.

"You were brave." He stared at me "But that's not all I want to talk to you about." I instantly felt worried. He touched my arm just like he had done in the car. "I know you are still meeting James without my permission." I was so stupid. I could lie or hide my fear, but I just froze after releasing my arm from his hand instead. "I didn't kill him.", he continued. "He is working for Eric from now on."

I was already crying when I whispered back "He will _hurt_ James, Godric. He will do that to hurt me." The Dead held my arms again, tight this time.

"I will not allow it." This time I could feel his effort to hide his feelings. I wondered for how long he would be able to do it. "Still, you have disobeyed me again."

"But I like James so much, he is the only person I can talk to in here. He is a true friend." I confessed my feelings and there was just so much I wanted to say, but my crying wouldn't let me. Godric was being so cruel. I had no words to describe my sadness. At some point I noticed Godric was getting vulnerable again, so I asked "Why is there pain inside of you?". I suddenly stopped complaining about what he had done and my question took him by surprise. I don't think he knew I was able to feel him like that sometimes. He was not able to hide what he was feeling all the time. However, I didn't know what made him vulnerable.

"There is no pain inside of me." He said sharply.

"You don't need to answer my question, but I felt the pain. You can't change that." For a while I stopped crying.

"James was more than a friend to you." He didn't admit the pain, and this time he managed to hide his feelings very well, although it was more than obvious that he was just jealous. Now, that started to make sense to me, it was true indeed. He spoke again "And you are mine, I don't want you to have this kind of relationship with him."

"I've already had a relationship with him." I still was in the middle of the sentence when he glared at me empty. Did that mean he wanted to have a relationship with me? I preferred not to get there. Instead, I just looked away and wiped my tears. There was nothing else to say. I could never bring James back, not by begging Godric. I was tired and had been crying, so I was definitely looking awful. "I want to sleep." That was all I could say.

"I understand." He quickly reached the door. Those Dead's quick movements would just always scare me. I never got used to them. "Sleep tight, Danielle." He didn't wait for me to answer and just left.


	11. Let's hang out

**So, I have 10 or 11 chapters left to post, which means we are in the middle of the story. Please do let me know what you think about it, I love your reviews :) See you soon! **

Chapter 11

Let's hang out

James was gone and I spent the next couple of days really lonely. There was absolutely no one to talk to me in that empty and huge mansion. However, one day I felt Betty and found out that she was the one responsable for what happened to James. She had simply told Godric about our secret meetings. I got pissed off. Why had she done this? She didn't have anything to do with us.

She was the one working in the kitchen now that James was gone, so that same evening I found out about what she had done, I went there to talk to her.

"Why did you tell the Dead about James and I? Did you want him to kill us or what?" I was straight to the point. She arched her eyebrows, maybe she was not expecting me to ever learn about it. Betty didn't know about what I could do.

"If I didn't tell him, _I_ would be in risk." She said sharply. "I'm tired of you. You are always putting my life in danger. Before you come, everything was quite peaceful around here." I felt her anger and a bit of envy too. I hadn't realized the reason why until she suddenly said "You sleep in his bedroom, you don't work, you don't do anything. I just have to serve you! That is so fucking unfair."

Well, I had never thought about that. She had a point. I didn't work for Godric, she did everything with James and the other couple of humans that I hadn't even met. They all should hate me. I stared at her, but I didn't really know what to say. It took me a moment to answer "But you could've gotten us killed." I got closer to her and continued "I don't know why Godric does this to me, alright? You know, I think that might be because he says I'm his." I stopped speaking as Betty's mouth fell open.

"You are _Godric's_?" She said incredulous.

"That is what he always says, but actually I don't quite get what that means." I answered confused. Why was she so surprised anyway?

"Don't you? Really? Oh, you're so much more stupid than I first thought!" Her eyebrows were raised as she laughed still surprised.

"Excuse me?" I got offended by her comment.

"If you are his, it means some day you will be turned! He will protect you forever! I wonder if he could choose someone more ridiculous than you." Oh, her envy, it was so strong. I felt everything and that made me feel a bit dizzy. I don't know how she could even want that kind of fate. I certainly hadn't liked to know that I was going to be turned. That could not be true. I was not ridiculous either. That woman was just pathetic.

After all her rudeness towards me I just turned my back on her and left the kitchen worried about my future. I went to the bedroom and spent hours thinking of my options. Maybe it was time for me to finally find a way out. I had to escape, but I had to find James first. I wouldn't leave him behind. If I failed this time, however, James would probably die a horrible death.

There was just a lot on my mind and I was completely distracted when Godric just walked in and sat on the bed next to where I was lying and trying to relax. I quickly opened my eyes, alert, and he smiled.

"What?" I asked. He had disturbed me, I wanted to be left alone. I didn't want to talk to him at all. Especially after what Betty had just told me.

"I was thinking..." He looked away and smirked a little, like he was shy or something. I did know he was a little embarrassed. "I wanted to take you somewhere tonight, to go out with you." I felt like laughing, but I didn't. Was he asking me on a date? Because scarily it looked like he was.

"Hm... I don't-" How could I refuse his invitation? Was I even allowed to say no to him? "I'm just not in the mood" I tried my best.

"Why not?" He glared me worried. "Is there anything wrong?"

_Everything_, I thought. "No... hm, Not really. I jus-" I stuttered, not sure about what I should say next.

He noticed that and cut me. "Danielle, it is alright if you don't want to come." I could still feel his embarrassement "But I would appreciate it if you did. There won't be any vampires this time." I frowned and he corrected himself smiling "Except me."

"What do you have in mind, then?" Although I was not willing to accept it, I was curious enough to know more about it.

"You will never know if you don't come with me." He smirked again. It was quite amusing to see him acting like a young man, a human one. We stared at each other for a long moment and then I finally gave up. "_Okay_. Let's go." _Curiosity killed the cat_, I thought. But it was too late to change my mind and we just left.

...

We flew. It was just so amazing, that I can't even describe what I felt up there. I had never heard about this ability of the Dead's. I had never heard about lots of things and I realized how I was learning quite much about them. We got to our destination very fast. He took me somewhere on the coast, I really couldn't tell where I was. It was an abandoned place with some beautiful and empty houses. There were also some boats floating on the quiet sea. I had been next to rivers and lakes, but I had never seen the sea. It was new to me.

The scene was just so beautiful, during the day that place should be fantastic. I couldn't stop staring at the landscape. People used to live there, happy. They were probably all took years ago to start working as slaves somewhere far from there original homes. I couldn't accept how we humans had lost everything. I walked towards the sea clearly amazed and Godric might have noticed that, because he took my hand leading me to another place.

"Come with me. Let me take you up that hill." He smiled. I could see an old house up there. "It was difficult for me to finally choose a place to take you. I thought you would like this one." I slowed down my pace and looked back and Godric warned me "Stay close to me, alright? I can hear a few infected people around this place."

I barely listened to him. The view from up there was even more fascinating. I caught myself smiling.

"You have a beautiful smile, Danielle." Godric said taking me by surprise.

"Thanks." I replied and avoided eye contact as I felt my cheeks turning red.

"I mean it." He insisted. _Alright, and what do you want me to say?,_ I thought. I just nodded awkwardly, and we got to the old house. I really hated compliments.

There was a bench in the backyard where Godric sat down. I was right behind him, following him. As he quickly sat, I stopped in front of him, staring at him. He looked back at me and there was just this silent moment between us. I was blushing again when he finally said "Come here."

I walked towards him suspicious and sat next to him. I kept a safe distant, fearing what he could do to me. I think he noticed, because he asked serious "Are you still afraid of me?"

"Yes." My voice was so low that only a Dead could've heard it. "I don't think this will ever change." I raised my voice a little.

"As long as you are a human." He stared at the landscape, thoughtful.

"What do you mean?" I frowned and in an instant Betty's words just echoed in my head.

"It means I have plans for you." He gave me a vague smile that creeped me out.

"Betty told me you will turn me eventually." I couldn't hide my fear, my voice was just trembling and my hands started to shake.

"She is right." His cold hand touching my shoulder made me shiver. "But you don't need to worry. I will only do it when you are ready."

"I will _never_ be ready." I replied sharply and he just smiled. I think he didn't believe me, but it didn't matter, I knew what I was saying. I was uncomfortable with his eyes on me, he just wouldn't stop staring. I focused on the sea and for a moment I started to think of my father. I wondered if he knew Godric would turn me one day, if he knew I would be his. How could he make this decision for me? It was so unfair. These thoughts might've made me scowl at some point, and the Dead next to me asked amused "Is there anything wrong, Danielle?"

"What?" I finally stared at his eyes, this time confused by his unexpected question. "No, I'm just fine." Godric started laughing at me and I repeated his question "Is there anything wrong, Godric?" So he laughed even more and answered "I have a confession to make." He wore a serious face again "I've tried to glamour you a couple of times, but I failed." I didn't know if I was angry at him or happy about his failures, I guess I was both. He stopped staring at me for a while and continued "At first, I was very frustrated about it, but after a while I realized I had no reason for that." He smiled "It's easy to figure out what you're thinking. You are always quite expressive and easy to read. It was just a shame that I can't make you do whatever I say, though."

"I guess my gift came with a price." I replied vaguely. "I just can't hide my feelings, no matter how hard I try." I wondered why I was confessing that to him. It was obvious at that point, so I let it go. He smiled again, and I could feel he was having fun with the whole conversation. I was not, though. I didn't feel confortable around him. He was nothing like James.

The silence was already bothering me, so I asked indifferent "How old are you?" His age didn't really matter, I just wanted him to say something.

"I am over two thousands years old." He seemed to be Bernard's age or even less. I would never have expected him to be so old. He must be much more powerful than most of the Deads. The older the stronger, that was the rule. Now I got why he always wanted me to respect him so badly. Knowing his age would not change anything, though.

"Did you fight for this? Do you hate humans very much?" I didn't know if I was pushing him. It was not my intention to upset him, I was just curious.

"We've lived in the shadows for millennia." He looked at me serious "Until humans found out about us. They started to attack us and killed many of us. They wouldn't stop, Danielle, and we were stronger. We've always been, so we fought back. That is what happened." Godric was emotionless, but I had a feeling he was hiding something from me. I didn't say anything. I did not agree with him either and it was useless to argue. Humans killed Deads, because Deads had been killing humans. The way they fought back was just... brutal. They killed lots of innocent people, even _children_. I couldn't accept Godric's version. Maybe if the war had never happened, there would had been a way for us to coexist somehow.

"What is on your mind?" He asked waking me up from my reflections.

"Nothing." I said and he glared at me smirking. He knew I was lying, so I corrected myself automatically "Nothing important."

"You do think we are all monsters that just kill innocents for fun, don't you?" I looked at him waiting for him to continue "Humans have killed innocents all the time as well. Hundreds of wars through History. You can't imagine, but I lived everything."

"I'm sure you did." I replied "But it's different than fighting against Deads. You are stronger than us."

"Humans never were all in the same level. I've seen brutal murders, soldiers with the best weapons killing starving children who could barely walk." He stared at the sea "I don't think this is an excuse, but you should not think of vampires as a synonym of evilness. You have been almost raped and murdered by a human. I'm aware that I have done unforgivable things during my existance that I would never repeat. Not now that I am old and able to completely control my urges. However, humans are capable of committing the same kind of brutality."

"You are right." I hated to admit that. He didn't look at me, but I noticed his slight smile. He was right, but I still believed humans and Deads should coexist peacefully anyway. I didn't want to keep arguing about that. It was actually hard to believe I was talking to a two thousand year old Dead just as normal as that.

"Don't move, Danielle." Godric suddenly whispered and stood up. I followed him and the look on my face was just questioning him. He didn't need to show me what was happening, though. Dozens of infected humans were walking towards us from the back of the old house. They were not as fast as Godric, but there were too many of them. The Dead quickly started to cut their heads off and I believe I was in shock, because three of them ran in my direction and I didn't move. Godric came as fast as he could and destroyed them all, but not before one of them had cut me with a knife.

My forearm was bleeding quite much, but I didn't pay attention to the pain. What was worrying me at that moment was the fact that the wound was caused by an infected. And he had touched it. That meant I was infected as well.

One day or less, that was what I had left to live.


	12. Surprises

**Thanks again for the reviews. I'm taking all of them in consideration and they are inspiring me to keep writing the second part of the story. I hope you like this next chapter. Have a nice week :)**

Chapter 12

Surprises

I was terrified and could barely move. Godric ran to me and grabbed my wounded forearm. I could feel that he was scared just as much as I was. We had absolutely nothing to do about it. The tears soon started to fall. Godric and I just went back to his place flying again. Way faster this time. Both of the times I flew with him I felt a bit sick, especially the second one, but it was just so awesome that I didn't really care, for a while I even forgot that I had been infected.

When we got to his place, he didn't let anyone see what had happened to me. Instead, he lead me to a room which I had never been before. It was small in there and everything was white. There was a couch and a simple bed. I sat on the couch and looked at my wound, the despair was taking control slowly. Soon my arm would start to rot, and then all my body. Then I'd lose my consciousness and all I'd be able to think would be _I have to spread the disease_. So, I would attack, or try to attack people around me and with time it would only get worse. I'd get resistant and it would be harder to kill me. I'd become the humans' nightmare for the next two days, unless I was killed before that.

"It's all my fault!" Godric growled and punched the wall, destroying it a little. His reaction scared me, but I didn't say anything while he turned to me and grabbed my forearm again, sitting right next to me. "My blood can't heal it." He noted frustrated, and I already knew it, I've seen people drinking V-blood after they got infected, but it never helped. It didn't heal. There was nothing he could do to stop the infection. Nothing at all.

"What are you waiting for, Godric?" There were no longer tears on my face. "You should kill me, I don't want to become one of those things."

"I _won't _ kill you." He replied dryly and then there was that creepy silence between us. I rolled my eyes and laid on the couch resting my head on his legs. That was a quite intimate act, but I didn't care anymore. Godric kept on running his hand through my hair even after I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

...

I woke up as fast as I could, jumping from the bed. I noticed I was back in Godric's bedroom, so I ran to the closest mirror that was in the bathroom. My arm was okay, like nothing had ever happened to me. I was relieved about that, but only for a while, because a knock on the door startled me and I screamed in fear. Suddenly there was something different with my teeth. _Fangs_. Had Godric turned me? I was a Dead! I ran away from the bathroom, and he was standing in the middle of the room, like he had been waiting for me.

"You _turned_ me!" I shouted frightened. "I am _not _ready!"

"I had no choice, Danielle, you were going to die." He said annoyingly patient.

"I don't want this." I refused my new condition. My hands were shaking and my fangs were scratching my lip while I spoke.

"Accept it, my child, there is no way back. You must be hungry, come with me, you need to feed." He tried to grab my hand, but I just shouted "NO!" Then, everything was dark.

I got up sweating and shaking and Godric quickly turned on the lights and stood in front of me. At first I was blinded by the light, so it took some time for me to finally be able to open my eyes.

"I just wanted to check on your wound, Danielle. Did I hurt you?" The Dead was so worried, but I didn't know what was happening.

"What? But you-" I stopped. It was just a nightmare. I woke up screaming and Godric was concerned about me, that was what happened. He was frowning, that moment he was the one lost on that conversation, so I decided to explain myself. "I had a bad dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked either worried or indifferent.

"No." That was just not a good time.

"So let me see your wound." Godric requested with a smooth voice. I could see he was trying hard to sound caring.

Before I could decide whether I should show him or not – I was afraid to look at my own forearm – Godric quickly turned the table lamp on, sat on the bed and asked me to do the same. I did it promptly. "Let me see it." He grabbed my forearm slowly and we looked at each other shocked. "What the hell?" I whispered smiling, but still a bit scared and confused. Was I dreaming again?

"How is this possible?" Godric demanded an explanation that I didn't have. I shook my head wondering the same thing. My arm hadn't rotten, it was good actually. The wound was there, but it was smaller, like any other regular wound would be after a while. That probably meant I was not infected at all.

"It looks good, doesn't it?" I finally said. I got hopeful and the Dead nodded and carefully touched the puncture. It hurt and I tapped his hand, so he immediately stopped and looked back at me. We stared at each other for a moment, I could see there was just a lot on his mind.

"Danielle, I really don't know how you can be still alive." He deeply stared at my eyes and that made me very uncomfortable. "If you are immune to the plague, it makes you even more special."

"And valuable" I completed aprehensive. Was it where he wanted to get?

"And valuable, it's true, but still mine." That was always his way of trying to appease me, even though it didn't help me feel better at all. "I won't be telling anyone about this. I hope you keep it between us as well." he completed.

I nodded a bit relieved, I confess. It was better to keep that as a secret. It wouldn't be nice to be sold again, you never know what can happen, or what the buyer is capable of. I just erased those thoughts from my mind and Godric spoke again. "Those infected people didn't seem like the general ones, they were stronger." I had been thinking the same thing earlier.

"Do you have any idea why they were different?" I leaned forward interested in the matter.

"No, but I hope it won't get worse with time." He had an worried tone. After a moment in silence, I suddenly felt Godric's tough hand touching my face, I closed my eyes and he caressed my cheek and my neck. It was good, but why was he doing it? It tickled a little and I quietly chuckled, it made him stop and ask "What?"

I shouldn't have chuckled in the first place, but I was not able to control myself as usual. "It's just that-" I stopped as he looked attentively at me. "I don't know." I concluded confused and Godric asked again, but this time clearly frustrated "What?"

"Your unexpected displays of affection just surprise me, Godric. That's it. I don't know what else to say." He smiled at me and I blushed. Then his phone rang and he answered it in another language, I guessed he was speaking to his progeny.

"I have to go now, Danielle. I won't be away for too long, but please, promise you will rest and not try anything stupid." I nodded quietly and he completed "I'm worried about you after what happened."

"I promise, Godric." There was nothing for me to try anyway. Deep inside I was still a little bit afraid my arm would start to decompose at any moment.

After he left the house, I just ate something and got back to the bedroom. Soon I felt tired and fell asleep again. That time I had no terrible nightmares.


	13. From bad to worse

**First of all, sorry for the delay, but some crazy things are happening to my life right now. I hope you enjoy this chapter, where things got really worse and Danielle started to have a stupid idea. Have a nice week! :)**

Chapter 13

From bad to worse

It was impressive how things could go from good to bad in an instant in that place. After the last conversation with Godric, everything was just fine. He was treating me very well, although I kept the safe distance between us. The next week was just peaceful and I had nothing to worry about. Until one day I woke up startled with some noise coming from outside my room. I changed my clothes quickly and when I opened the door I heard people screaming. _Humans_. I ran to the hallway and I couldn't believe my own eyes. It was daytime and humans were destroying the place. What really shocked me, however, was James. He was in the middle of the rebellion. He was the leader, I could tell.

"Are you _crazy_?" I ran to him shouting. How could he be so reckless? He knew what Godric was capable of. He knew what was going to happen sooner or later.

"I'll get you out of here, _come on_!" James took my hand but I didn't move.

"Godric will kill everyone." I was so worried. I was not going anywhere, I knew it was impossible. What was his problem? Those people had to leave really quick. "Get out, now!"

"I thought you wanted this too, Danielle." He stopped as someone threw a chair at the window. We both looked at it to check the damage, it was possible to see the sun from inside, it was going down, though. "It started. We are fighting back! C'mon, let's go."

"I can't!" I insisted. "I just can't. It is not going to work, he'll find us." James suddenly kissed my lips and begged with his beautiful dark gaze, but I was firm "Go, James, the sun is going down. You don't have much time." He had to give up. As much as I wanted to go with him, I knew it would be stupid. We could be easily found.

"I'm not going anywhere without you, stubborn girl." His smile was so cute. But before I could say anything else, heavy metal plates covered the windows and the door. In an instant, everyone got locked inside. Some people started to scream in fear and they were just the first to die. Godric killed every single human in the room in just a few seconds and held James' neck.

"_NO!_" I shouted as loud as I could. I already had tears on my eyes. James had his closed, it looked like he was waiting to die. _What a coward_, I thought. "Please, Godric. I'll do anything you ask, just let him go." I knew it was a risk to say such thing, but at the moment that was everything I had to offer him.

"Don't say that, Nielle." James moaned and Godric tightened his grip. "_Anything_?" The Dead asked raising his eyebrows, I could tell he was really interested in my offer. He was almost killing James with one of his hands, but still he wore a very calm look on his face. That was just sick, Godric was cold.

"No..." James tried to stop me, but it was too late. I wouldn't let him die. I couldn't take any other death. He was my friend, my only friend and this was all his fault. James would have to live with that guilt. "Anything. Let him go." I said and Godric threw him on the floor. "Eric will be picking you up later.", he warned him. I walked towards James to help him, but the Dead stopped me.

"Danielle, go to my room." I thought it would be wise not to question him, so I just nodded and walked away. I saw he left James there and called someone, probably Eric. I was worried about what was going to happen, about what Eric was going to do with him. Needless to say if Northman killed or hurt James, the deal would be off.

I spent a long time inside the bedroom waiting for Godric to tell me what was going on. After a while I just laid on the bed and closed my eyes. I don't know how much time had passed, but when I woke up, Godric was sitting on the bed staring at me quietly. Was he watching me sleep or what?

"What happened to James?" I was still feeling sleepy, but I did have to know. I got up as fast as I could, a bit dizzy and with a messy hair.

"He is with Eric. He won't be harmed." He said emotionless.

"I don't believe you." I replied clearly upset.

"I don't care." This time Godric was sharp. We stared at each other and I really didn't know what to say. So one day he would act like a nice friend and then become a complete rude stranger towards me. It was just unacceptable. He was quiet for a moment, then he opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but just gave up. I frowned.

"You agreed to do anything I ask." The Dead finally spoke after another moment and I could not feel any emotions from him, it was very disturbing. Maybe I would never get used to that.

I looked away and changed the subject "You just told me the other day you were capable of controlling yourself. That you didn't kill innocent humans, but you just did." My voice was weak, I still could not believe what had just happened in the hallway. Dozens of young humans murdered by him. A blood bath.

"They weren't innocent, Danielle. They disrupted the peace in my home." He looked in my eyes, it was like he really believed this was actually a reason to just go and kill everyone. He was serious while I laughed in disbelief, I couldn't accept it anymore.

"You are a monster." That's all I could think of him.

"And you agreed to do anything I ask." He reminded me once more and I saw he slightly smirk. Again I couldn't say anything. He made me so confused, he would always be nice to me and then all of a sudden he would become that terrifying monster. I had not even done anything wrong, that mess was all because of James' intrusion. I scowled, I didn't regret my decision, but I wished nothing would happen to me.

"Why did you do it, Danielle? Why did you risk yourself that much just to keep James alive? He is not worth it." He spoke after two or three awkward minutes of silence.

"He is worth it. James is my only friend and he only came to get me out of here. He thought of me." I was not sure if it was a good idea to confess that to Godric, but it wouldn't change things, he couldn't hurt James because of our deal.

"Oh, so he is your knight in the shiny armor. He came to rescue you, if only he hadn't failed." Godric had such an ironic tone in his voice. He sounded like Eric, actually. I got so angry at him, I couldn't even try to hide it. We were standing in front of each other when I finally exploded.

"You don't know what it's like, Godric." I almost growled. "You are not _capable_ of love. You don't feel it, you can only feel anger and hate." He showed me his fangs and stepped closer towards me probably because I was disrespecting him, but at that point I didn't care at all. "That is why you don't understand. You are a _fucking_ _monster_!" I screamed the last sentence and he grabbed my arms tightly. The pain and all my rage made new tears fall from my eyes.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked with my trembling voice. "Kill me!" I was being stubborn and reckless, but when I'm angry I just can't control myself. I just do stupid things. Godric just growled very loud and tightened his grip. "Kill me, Godric!" I shouted back at him, I was not sure why I was provoking him like that, maybe deep inside of me I was just really willing to die. I didn't want him to have any more power over me, I didn't want him to make me do anything for him. He growled even louder, but then just let go of me and stepped back. I covered my face with my hands crying as he just watched me. I was crying mostly because I was very angry and scared because of what he had done to those people. I didn't think that that monster could realize that.

After what it seemed like an eternity, Godric finally sighed "I can't."

I slowly looked at him, he was staring at the floor with a deep expression, I was still crying a little bit when I whispered "You take this promise too seriously."

"I do not." His statement surprised me. I raised my eyebrows a little and he continued. "It was never about the promise." Godric seemed disappointed with himself. "I realize it now. I could've broken it at any time. Arthur is dead." He placed his hand on my shoulder and concluded "I don't understand why I can't. Something stops me everytime. Everytime I ought to kill you, everytime I want to drink from you. It's something stronger than me, I just can't." His confession was full of frustration and disappointment, I felt it all. I could feel Godric in those moments when he was a bit vulnerable and off guard.

I was not sure about what to say next. I didn't know if I should feel relieved or upset about everything. My arms were hurt and I could barely move them, I sat on the bed brushing them with my hands and Godric sat next to me.

"I want you to drink my blood." He suddenly said and my situation got from bad to much worse.

"_What_?" My mouth just fell open, it was hard to believe what I was hearing.

"You said you would do anything I asked. I'm asking you to drink my blood." He said dryly.

"Why?" I scowled.

"It doesn't matter." No, no and no. This was not good at all. I knew that if I drank his blood he would be able to track me from anywhere. I would never be able to escape. If he were really two thousands years old, it could mean this connection would be even stronger. That was not what I wanted, but if I didn't drink it, he would probably kill James. That was our deal. I wondered why he wanted me to drink it right now anyway. I guessed I would never know.

As I looked at him with an obvious apprehensive expression, he slightly smirked and bit his wrist. "Quick, drink it." It was an offer which I couldn't simple say _no_ to. I held his forearm still unsure and he nodded impatient. I touched my mouth on his wrist and started to drink the blood that was coming out. Lots of it. I can't describe its taste, I don't understand why it was so addicting either. The scene was quite disguting, however, I only stopped drinking it when Godric gently released his wrist from my hands.

I stared at him and I could feel that I had blood all over my mouth. Godric slowly wiped most of it with his finger. I felt terrible, but at the same time strong and alive. My arms were perfectly fine. They healed quite fast.

"Do you know the implications of having my blood inside of you?" He asked almost casually.

"I just know I won't be going anywhere anymore. You will always find me." I said vexed. I already knew about the healing thing. I've heard stories of blood dealers. They were humans who would sell what it's called _V-blood_ to people. It was not always just for the healing, some of the buyers would also get addicted to it and become an easy prey for the Deads out there. Dealing V-blood was prohibited and if you got caught doing it you would be condemned to die a horrible death.

"Exactly." He smirked and I could feel it was not all about the tracking thing. Godric was hiding something from me. I decided not to question him, though. He left the room with a mysterious smile on his face, but I was no longer able to feel him. I was too tired to try harder, I hadn't slept well during the day because of the rebellion. I wondered if James were right. Had it really started? Had the humans finally started to fight back? It didn't matter to me anymore, I would always be found by Godric.

Unless I killed him.


	14. Trouble is everywhere

**Thank you very much for the reviews. I love to read your opinions on my story and I consider everything you say :) I also noticed that some of you want Danielle to fight against Godric, while others are looking forward to seeing them getting along well. That is quite interesting for me. I really hope you like what is coming. Oh! And right now I'm writing the 6th chapter of Among the Deads sequel. It will be a bit different from this first part and I'm still thinking about how to develop it, so I'm doing it very slowly. Anyways, see you soon! :)**

Chapter 14

Trouble is everywhere

During the following days I just couldn't stop dreaming about Godric. Godric kissing my neck, Godric kissing my lips, Godric taking my clothes off, Godric everything else. It _had_ to be because of his blood. However, the dreams didn't prevent me from planning his death very well. On the contrary, they just made me want to kill him even more. I was going to destroy him and I knew it was not something easy to do. It would also have lots of consequences.

I spent almost a week planning it and I didn't meet him very much. He had been busy with the rebellions in this area. Apparentely humans were really fighting back after all. I just didn't know if they were actually changing something, I couldn't find out anything about it, not as long as I was locked inside that place.

I took advantage from Godric's absence to go down in the basement – that place he had locked me in some time ago – and looked for weapons. I knew he often took some Dead's as prisioners too, so there were some silver chains and I could even find a pistol and some silver bullets, including a wood stake. It was perfect, I found way more stuff than I had first imagined.

To accomplish my mission, I had to find a way of dragging Godric to the basement with me. I had to have all the weapons in the right place in order to be able to attack him at the exact moment. So, I decided that the best way of doing this, was simply walking in there. Then, he would probably follow me and I would have to find a way to make him vulnerable to the attack. Finally, I would quickly use the chains on him and grab the stake. I didn't have a lot of imagination, but it was worth a try. As soon as I destroyed him, I was going to run away from that place. It would be difficult to find somewhere to stay, but I could do it. That was the only way.

Another week passed and one night I woke up after having one of those awkward dreams with Godric. I left my room embarrassed about my own thoughts, just after taking a long shower and putting on clean light blue jeans and an old grey shirt. I had dinner quietly. Even when the Dead was not around, I had been sleeping during the day. I got used to it and now it would be easier for me to find him and kill him if I rested just like he did.

"Good evening, Danielle." Godric spoke from behind me all of a sudden. I was finishing my meal and his voice scared me a bit.

"Good evening, Godric." I answered without looking back.

"Have you been dreaming of me?" Even though I was not looking at him, by the tone of his voice I was just sure he had an irritating smile on his face.

"You know I have." I replied sharply.

"Are they very good dreams?" This time he quickly sat in front of me and looked in my eyes. It was not easy to avoid his gaze.

"No, they are not. I hope they will just go away soon." I couldn't help blushing and I hated myself for that. I was trying to focus all my thoughts on my plan. It was not the right time to do it, though. I had to wait a little longer for a chance to get in the basement again.

Godric didn't say anything else. He just smiled probably because I blushed. I was so stupid, I just wish I could be less obvious all the time. Angry at myself, I stood up and walked away. He didn't even give me time to reach the door, standing right in front of me.

"What is wrong, Danielle? Can't you stay close to me and not feel extremely attracted to me?" He asked amused with a brief smirk on his face. He knew about my weakness, and he was provoking me and having plenty of fun with it.

"I know you don't care about how I feel. You are just having fun because I'm obviously embarrassed." I noted avoiding his eyes.

Godric looked quite handsome when he laughed at my words. I didn't know if it were because I had drunk his blood, though. He stepped close to me, very close. Then, he slowly leaned towards me and kissed my cheek. His kiss was cold, but so gentle. Although my brain tried to make me push him away, I didn't move at all. It was because of the blood, its effect on me. It _had_ to be.

After his sudden display of affection, he looked deep in my eyes and offered whispering "If you want to make these dreams come true, just let me know." I didn't have a clue about what he was feeling and it disturbed me a lot. So, this time I really walked away, I felt like my cheeks were just as red as a tomato. Godric didn't try to stop me anymore, even when I left the house. I walked towards the woods, how I missed the fresh air.

I wandered through the woods, heading towards the deeper forest until I felt tired and my legs started to ache. I got to a beautiful tree, but I was too tired to climb it, so I just sat next to it, on the hard ground. Although it was the middle of the night, the weather was not freezing like the time I almost died in the cold. I heard a noise coming from behind me, and I thought it was probably Godric following me around, so I just ignored it.

Then I heard my name. "Danielle." Someone called me. It was not Godric. It was trouble. Why would I always be in some kind of trouble? I was sick and tired of it. I quickly stood up and looked around. No one. Then I had the feeling I was being stared at. Something hit the ground and I was shocked when I recognized his face.

"Bern-" I couldn't speak properly, my voice failed.

"I've been trying to talk to you since the day you were sold." Bernard had an expressive glare, but I couldn't tell if he were happy or if we were about to argue.

"Since the day you sold me." I corrected him.

"I had no choice." He quickly replied.

"You did. Look, you'd better get going. Godric is probably watching us." I warned him, but deep inside I wanted him to stay, maybe to take me and protect me from everything.

"He is not. I can't see him and he wouldn't let me get close to you like that." He stepped towards me and I didn't move. "Let me talk to you, my sister."

"Your sister?" Why was he even calling me his sister after everything? I held my crying, but I didn't know for how much longer I'd be able to do it.

"You have always been my sister, Danielle. I wish I had been a better brother to you. Come with me, I can change that." I wanted that to be true, but he was not convincing at all. There was something suspicious about this meeting, it was too convinient, running into him like that.

"I've drunk Godric's blood, Bernard." I warned him again, "He will find us. Go away."

"Why are you-" Bernard tried to protest, but a stunning blond woman interrupted him. I didn't know where she came from.

"Ohhh, Is this your human sister?" Bernard nodded confused. I think he didn't expected her to be there. "She is cute." she noted looking at me. "My name is Monica. I'm Bernard's big sister." She explained to me like she was talking to a baby. I frowned and she added "_Vampire_ sister."

"Oh, I'm Danielle." I looked back at Bernard. He was terrified, that probably meant my life was in danger. I had to get out of there quick. For a moment I asked myself why I left Godric's house in the first place.

"I know." She smiled. "Bernard, do you want me to share her with you?" Monica showed off her fangs with a creepy move.

"Please, Monica. Not her, we can find someone else tonight." He begged his big sister, but she didn't seem to listen to him. She came closer to me and I stepped back. "I guess _you_ will find someone else tonight, then." Then, much faster than I expected, I felt her fang ripping my neck. I tried to scream but it hurt. I noticed Bernard tried to stop her, but she pushed him far away. Monica was stronger than him. Godric was going to come, and he was going to kill her and possibly my brother too. I couldn't let him destroy Bernard just like that.

I was already feeling weak when Godric arrived in his impossible speed and cut Monica's head off in a blink of an eye. Bernard screamed in deep pain and Godric grabbed him by the neck. I had seen it before, with James. I was too weak to beg him, so I just whispered "Please,"

"You killed Monica!" Bernard said with bloody tears on his face.

"She was attacking your sister!" Godric growled "Why do you even care for her? You should care about your sister!" and why did he bother to teach Bernard a lesson? I was hearing their conversation, but I could barely keep my eyes open. "Please," I whispered again. That was all I could say, I had lost too much blood.

I must have lost conscious, because that was the last thing I remember. Later I woke up on Godric's bed and, surprisinly, he was resting right beside me. I shook his chest trying to wake him up and it worked, but scared him a lot. He got up in an instant with his fangs out.

"Danielle, don't ever do this again." He quickly recovered and sat next to me. I looked at him confused and apologized "Sorry." We stared at each other silently for a while until I finally ask what I wanted to know.

"Where is Bernard?" I wondered if he had killed him.

"I don't know. With his maker, maybe." He said distracted. "I didn't destroy him, I wanted to, but I didn't." He was looking at me, speaking to me, but it seemed like he had other things in mind.

"I'm glad you didn't." I felt like he was not paying attention to me, but I continued anyway "He wanted to talk to me, but Monica came and attacked me. He didn't want to harm me."

"Bernard does not care about you, Danielle." So he was listening to me after all. "I don't know what he wanted to say to you, but you just can't trust him." He was speaking clearly.

"I know." I looked at my feet "I can't trust anyone anymore." That was the truth. I was avoiding Godric eyes, which I knew were on me. I was feeling terrible about everything. My brother tried to talk to me, but I didn't actually have the chance to hear him. It reminded me about Monica's bite, so I touched my neck trying to find the scar.

"I healed you with my blood." Godric noticed what I was looking for.

"So you gave me more of your blood." I rolled my eyes angry, because now I would have more of him inside me.

He smiled but this time he was vague. Actually, he had been acting weird since I woke up.

"What is wrong, Godric?" I decided to ask.

"What?" He frowned probably not expecting the question.

"First I leave the house and you don't get mad at me, then bad things happen and again you don't get mad at me, finally I wake up and you are next to me and now you have this look on your face that I can't figure out what it means." I don't know if I was worried about him, I don't think so. It was just curiosity, I had never seen him like that.

"Why don't you just feel my feelings or whatever do you can do to find out what is wrong?" Oh, so he still didn't know he could block his feelings from me, and that he did this all the time, did he? I was not sure if I should tell him about that, but I did.

"It almost never works with you anyway." He raised his eyebrows surprised. "I don't know how, but you manage to hide your emotions from me very well all the time".

"I didn't know that, Danielle. So apparently I can't glamour you, and you can't feel me. I believe that just makes our relationship more interesting, and fair." He smiled and gently caressed my face with his finger. I couldn't exactly feel what he was feeling, but I knew something was not right. I also felt a bit awkward, maybe because of his blood. I felt like kissing his hand. I didn't do it, of course.

It didn't matter anyway, the time was coming, and Godric would meet his true death very soon. I had everything that I needed and every step arranged in my mind. As soon as he was destroyed, I was going to find James and we would run together. Godric had told me that after that episode, Eric had glamoured James and he would not remember me again. However, I decided I would just meet him again, and save him. We didn't need to join any rebellion, we would just need each other. We could survive together, helping one another. That was what we used to dream of when he was still living in Godric's place. He didn't need to remember anything, I would just make him feel it again.


	15. Time to end this

**Chapter 15 is here! I'm sorry for the delay. I was a bit inspired and wrote a few more chapters for the sequel, so I didn't review this one very soon. I hope you like what had finally happened! :) And please, don't forget to leave a review. See you! **

Chapter 15

Time to end this

Two days passed and I hadn't been able to put my plan in practice because, for some reason, Eric Northman was around all the time. He was doing small jobs for Godric, probably killing people who didn't deserve to die at all. And, of course, he was irritating me in every possible way. One night, though, Northman left and Godric and I were finally alone in that house.

I waited until dawn and got to the basement. I stayed there for the whole day, preparing things trying not to feel too anxious. I was afraid Godric would track my feelings now that we had this connection. The long hours didn't seem to pass that day, I started to think of how things could go wrong. On the other hand, if I didn't do it, one day Godric would turn me into a Dead. So I concluded I had two options: First, I could try to kill him and run away, and if I failed, he would kill me. And second, I could keep living this way and become a Dead in the end. Killing him was the best option, indeed. It was my chance of running away and I would rather die than becoming one of them.

I was there waiting for him unarmed, when I heard the door open. It was time. I shivered a little. I felt so nervous that he probably tracked me.

"Danielle, what are you doing down here?" Godric asked looking for me. The room was dark and surprisinly he didn't realize I was right behind him. I touched his back and he quickly turned himself to me, with his fangs out. It scared me a lot, but I had to stick to the plan. I hugged him carefully resting my head on his shoulder. I was nervous, but it worked and Godric hid his fangs. When I looked back at him, he had this confused expression on his face.

"I want you to make those dreams come true." I whispered and he smirked cocky. Then, I took a deep breath, and got closer to him. With my arms wrapped around his waist, I kissed his lips. I tried not to be awkward, but passionate. I had to be in control, but it was hard. Godric kissed me back and although his lips were cold, it felt like they were burning. It went on and on and I started to walk, slightly pushing him towards where I wanted him to go. I never stopped kissing him, and put his back against a solid column. His hands were holding my hips very tightly. I felt how badly he wanted to be in control, and before he could put _me_ against the column, I let the silver chains out. A trap I had built silently during the day. Godric was so vulnerable that he didn't even see it coming.

When he finally noticed what I was doing, it was too late, I put the rest of the heavy silver chains around him as fast as I could, tying him to the solid concrete column despite his growls. He could had been fast enough to stop me, but I imagined he failed to do it because he was not expecting that I was there to kill him.

Before he could heal somehow and start to fight back, I quickly grabbed the wood stake. I was coming back to end everything when he spoke. "Do you really think you will be free as soon as you kill me?" his voice was not as weak as I thought it would be. He was powerful indeed, it was like he was not even in pain. I didn't answer him. Instead, I held the stake tight and touched his hard chest with it. I felt his guilt.

"Don't do it, Danielle. You are making a mistake." he said in a serene tone. It was like he was blaming himself for what I was doing to him. Maybe he thought he should have expected that. It also seemed like he was not too much concerned about his life. I couldn't tell for sure.

"Are you afraid?" I don't know why I asked it. Did I even care?

"I am very afraid for you. If you kill me, you will have no protection." Godric was not even trying to move.

"But I don't need your protection." As I said that, he laughed at me. It made me nervous, so I explained myself "I do not, and you don't give me much of an option here. I _have_ to destroy you." Why wouldn't I just press the wood stake against his chest and end it once and for all? What was stopping me? I shouldn't be hearing this monster.

"And why ist that?" He asked still grinning.

"You can track me now. I can't escape." I was kneeling in front of him. Godric was sitting on the floor with heavy silver chains all around him. His arms and neck were bleeding. He was probably in pain, even though he was not showing it to me. Still, I was there, talking to him. I had to end that. Why wasn't I ending that?

"You don't need to escape." It was not the first time he had said such thing to me.

"You will _turn me_, if I don't!" I heard my own words and it hurt. I felt like crying and my hands started shaking. I realized I was afraid of killing him, I was a coward after all. Deep inside I was very afraid of the possible consequences. However, I would still ask myself _So what?_ I didn't want to be turned! I had a lot on my mind, I was confused, Godric spoke again but I barely listened to him, I was not even looking at him anymore.

"I will only do it when you are ready, Danielle, and you are clearly not." His voice was so serene. I think he noticed my shaking hands and in an instant he got rid of the chains, took the stake from me and threw it far away from us. So I never really had the chance of destroying him. He just _let _me believe I was actually about to kill him down there, but actually I was not. He could have escaped from the trap at anytime. I failed, it was over.

Godric put me against the wall and his arms and neck were already healing, but his white shirt was still covered in blood. His face was an inch from mine and he looked at me just like he did when we first met. He seemed patient, but as much as I wanted to, I could not feel anything from him. So even though I was afraid of what I could find out, I slowly raised my hand and touched his face. He nodded, as if he had understood what I was doing, Godric allowed me to feel him.

What I felt, however, was not what I was expecting at all. It was unbelievable. I think he noticed my surprise, because he smiled at me like he knew the reason why my eyebrows were raised. I had never seen him smile like that before, it was like he was really full of joy. How could he possibly feel this way after what I had almost done to him or at least intended to? He should hate me, punish me and kill me like any other Dead would do. I just knew he would do nothing like that to me, and I was right, because he _loved_ me.

My hands were still on his face when he got closer and kissed my lips. This time it wasn't a dream. It was not fake either. Although my back was against the wall, I didn't show any fear. On the contrary, _I kissed him back._ I like to think that I did it only because I was still under the effects of his blood. At first, his kiss was slow and gentle. I placed my other hand on the back of his neck and pulled him closer. I couldn't believe what I was doing, I couldn't recognize myself. At some point, he held my waist and became more wild. We were touching our lips and our bodies so passionately. I was slowly losing my mind. Godric would sometimes kiss my neck and my ear, making me crazy. He knew that I no longer had any control over myself. It did not bother me, I didn't care at all. I just wanted him so badly.

Godric stopped for a moment, after a long kiss, and I saw his fangs were out. He gazed into my eyes and I sighed. I was finally able to breathe. After resting my head on his shoulder, I whispered "What are we doing?"

"Something we should have done before." His finger touched my chin making me look back at him. "You are beautiful." He said smiling and I looked away blushing. This was wrong, he was not human like James. He was a Dead, he had killed people. We were not on the same side. Suddenly I felt bad. What was I thinking? I was being so selfish, kissing a Dead sheriff while my parents had died fighting against him, while James was suffering because of him.

"I need to sleep." I said as an excuse to leave. Apparentely I would be free to go, it didn't look like he was going to do anything about my attempt of destroying him. "I've been awake all day." I was heading to the door and didn't get too far when he quickly appeared in front of me.

"Are you alright?" He asked clearly confused.

"Yes, Godric. Good night." I managed to smile but it came out awkward. I was just wishing him good night after trying to kill him. We _kissed_ and moments before I intended to destroy him. It was quite ironic, but he didn't seem to care. Deads didn't think like humans at all.

"Danielle?" He called me when I reached the door. I looked back at him and he warned "If you ever try this again, I won't be that nice with you." He sounded intimidating, but it was fair enough for me. I just nodded and left.

I got to the bedroom, wondering how life was going to be after everything that happened. Things would definitely change. For now, I thought it would be better if I just started to avoid Godric. It was a typical behavior, but it was necessary. I'd try my best to sleep at night and just leave the bedroom during the day. It was the best I could do. However, when I finally laid on the bed and closed my eyes, all I could think was him. That kiss was perfect, I had to do something to actually forget how amazing it was. I had to keep in mind that it was a mistake. I mistake that could not be repeated. Also, my main problem persisted. Godric was still going to turn me eventually. It was hard to fall asleep that night.


	16. Hail to the king

**Thanks a lot for the reviews. I don't have a lot to say this time, I can only tell we are coming to the end and everything will start to change really fast :) Have a nice week and don't forget to tell me what you think about chapter 16. See you soon!**

Chapter 16

Hail to the king

I spent almost two weeks without even seeing Godric in front of me. I was always sleeping during the nights while he was resting during the day. I had been waking up very early, because I also had been going to bed early, like just after the sun goes down. At first I was still having those dreams about him, which made the process of forgetting our kiss quite difficult. Since the dreams stopped, I tried to occupy myself doing some gardening. It was something I really enjoyed doing so I could spend almost all day at the garden.

I woke up that morning and realized it was my birthday. I was turning eighteen that day, but there was nothing special about it. My mother used to tell me that back then people celebrated their birthdays with parties, but we had never done anything like that in the village we lived in. I mean, we did wish people happy birthday, but that was all. The best birthday I had ever celebrated was James'. That was the first time I had ever eaten a birthday cake. I wish he would be there tonight so we could dance and laugh like the last time. James knew a lot about what life used to be. I still missed him sometimes.

It was still very early when I headed to the garden as any other usual day and started to tend it. Godric's garden was special. Outside, everything was just frozen and full of snow. It was winter after all. However, Godric had a big greenhouse with beautiful flowers. Some of them I did not even know. In that morning there was not much to be done, though. Later, I had lunch with a very bad-humored Betty. She would just always hate me, wouldn't she? At least she hadn't tried to kill me again. After the meal, then, I got to the bedroom and just relaxed. I had gotten a book from Godric's library that was about werewolves. We all knew they existed, but I had never seen one in my life. That book kind of taught me a lot about them and what they could do. Apparently, after the Deads won the war, most of them ran to the forests and their lives there were very similar to mine when I was in the village. I also learned a lot more about how humans used to live before the war.

Several hours must had passed, however, I didn't go to sleep. I was interested in the well-written book, I must had read it all afternoon. I heard the door opening and it was too late to pretend I was asleep. He was already there.

Godric closed the door and asked directly. "Did you choose not to avoid me anymore?"

If he was going to be frank with me, I'd do the same. "Honestly, I just didn't see the time pass." He walked in my direction smiling and I completed "I know you are very happy to see me, but I'm going to sleep now, good night."

Godric ignored me and sat on the bed forcing a conversation that I really didn't want to have. "Why were you reading about werewolves?"

"I thought it could be interesting." I answered and sat up straight. "I don't want to talk, Godric. Leave me alone."

"Why?" He asked, although obviously he knew the answer.

"You know why, Godric." I rolled my eyes at his stupid question "You are all over me, I don't want it and I will not drink your blood ever again."

"Weeks have passed already, I don't think you are feeling this way because of the blood anymore." That was really not what I wanted to hear from him. I scowled and he smiled cocky, that made me ever more mad at him.

"Whatever," I said blushing. Before I could protest, Godric asked. "Today was your birthday, wasn't it?"

I amused Godric whenever I got embarrassed. I nodded and he chuckled. We stared at each other and he had that irritating smile on his face. "When I was eighteen, I was still a human." he suddenly confessed.

That made me think about how he might had been when he was human. He was so old, that I couldn't even picture how was life back then. We no longer had History classes those days, and all I know about the past is what older people had taught me and what I had read on books. Although I felt like asking him tons of questions, I controlled myself.

"I don't care." I lied.

"Don't you wish you knew what I used to do two thousands years ago?" It looked like he was reading my mind. I hesitated, didn't reply immediately, and I realized Godric was in a talkative mood. "I'm from Europe, Danielle, do you know where Europe is?"

"Overseas." I wanted to ignore him, but still I did not want him to think I did know the answer.

"Correct." He said, but not so surprised. "Maybe one day I will take you there." Yeah, of course, I was his puppy and he would take me anywhere he wanted, no matter what _I _thought about it. I didn't say anything else, and then he spoken again.

"Happy birthday, Danielle." the Dead smiled at me, like he hadn't figured me out and deep inside I wanted to tell him that my birthdays were never happy. After a moment, I finally broke the silence "Can you leave me al-?" I couldn't finish the sentence because a noise came from outside. It was so loud that I thought it was some kind of explosion. I stood up, but Godric stopped me. "Danielle, _stay_." I knew I had to do as he said, so I nodded and he disappeared. I was alone.

Fifteen, thirty minutes, an hour passed, and I hadn't heard anything from him, or anyone else. I gave up and left the bedroom, despite his recommendation. When I got to the living room, Godric was talking to three other Deads that I had never seen before. Although I tried to hide, the moment I got there everyone looked at me with their fangs out and Godric glared at me furious.

"What is the problem, gentlemen?" He asked still glaring me. There was fire in his eyes. I don't think I had ever pissed him off that much. I was instantly scared.

The visitors kept on staring at me with an intimidating glare. "Who is she?" One of them asked. The guy was much taller than Godric and had dark hair and dark eyes. His skin was very pale and he was wearing black clothes, just like the others.

"She is mine." Godric answered and for the first time that kind of statement relieved me.

"I see that." The Dead continued. "But what is she doing out here?"

"It's not your business." Godric sighed and looked at me "Get out of here."

I headed to where I came from not saying a word and that tall Dead quickly came to me. Godric followed him and stayed almost between us. Neither Godric nor the visitors hid their fangs.

"What is your name, human?" His question somehow reminded me of Eric Northman. I glared at Godric and he slightly nodded. That Dead was creeping me out, I had already regretted leaving the room. I just had not realized the situation could be so bad.

"Danielle." I said and it came out almost as I whisper.

"Nice to meet you." He smiled in an attempt to sound polite. "Godric seems to be taking good care of you."

I didn't know what he was insinuating, so I didn't answer anything and finally left. I just knew Godric would be terribly furious because I disobeyed him. I waited for hours and he never came back. This time I didn't go out to look for him. It was getting very late and I hadn't slept in a long time, so I ended up falling asleep.

When I woke up, it was the middle of the afternoon. The room was completely dark so I imagined Godric was resting next to me on the bed. I turned on the table lamp and looked at him. He didn't move. He was so handsome, it was a shame he was a Dead. Asleep, he even looked innocent. I wondered who were those men visiting him last night. Was he in danger? Strangely, I hoped not.

Even though it was already afternoon, I still felt terribly tired. I turned off the lights again and laid down closing my eyes. I couple of hours passed and I finally woke up. It didn't take much longer for Godric to get up too.

"Who were they?" I didn't even give him time to think.

"I wish they had not met you. You should have stayed in here." He replied sharply. Godric didn't answer my question and I thought he didn't want to do it, so I shut my mouth, or tried to. I couldn't decipher Godric's glare, but somehow I felt it was not good. What scared me the most, was that he did not growl, he did not show me his fangs, he just avoided the subject. That probably meant something very bad was about to happen.

"At least tell me why you are so worried." I finally begged.

"In these last months a lot has changed." He started to speak, but he was not looking at me at all, he stared at the wall the whole time. "You know humans have been fighting back, they are attacking vampires. They are even managing to destroy some young ones. Our response has been brutal, as it always is. We are using infected people against them. Also, the King is making some experiments that even _I_ think it is something creepy and unnecessary." He finally looked at me. "Anyway, the vampires you saw last night were the guards. The King's guards. The King of this area wants to speak to me, because he is suspecting I'm hiding something. You appearing in the middle of the meeting just made things much worse." I felt he was a bit irritated. "Although I'm not guilty at all, I believe the King might want to take you from me, and maybe punish me somehow. He never liked me and this seems to be a good excuse to attack me."

Take me from him? I didn't want that. I'd always heard the Kings were the worst kind of Dead. That's how they were chosen to be a King in the first place. If that really happened, I'd rather die. And Godric, well, he couldn't be punished for something he hadn't done. It was unfair, but that whole goddamn world was unfair anyway, wasn't it? I couldn't change any of that. I was not capable. I think I lost myself in my own sea of thoughts, because Godric had to call me more than once for me to finally look back at him.

"Danielle, are you okay?" I finally woke up and slightly nodded.

"I don't want to be taken." It was something silly to say, and a bit childish, I guessed, but Godric promptly replied smiling "Nothing will happen to you, I promise." He was faking that smile. He was not relaxed about everything.

"You can't promise that." I said almost cutting him. I obviously knew he couldn't do anything against his King's will. If the King wanted to take me, he would get me. He stared at me quietly, and I knew he was thinking I was right.

"I will turn you before he tries something." I was not expecting that confession.

"I'd rather die, Godric." My answer was automatic. We should not even discuss such topic.

"In his hands, Danielle, you wouldn't just die." Godric was vulnerable, he wasn't hiding his feelings and he was worried. I had never seen him like that.

"So you will kill me before he catches me."

"You know I can't." Then his worry became pain, and he was not looking at me. I carefully held his hand and twined my fingers into his. He didn't pull away and even though I tried not to, I couldn't avoid seeing one of his memories.


End file.
